The Laughing One
by Adelilah
Summary: Bentley the hyena, notorious for his obnoxiously immature behavior and never ending arsenal of practical jokes. But the question everyone around him has asked themselves at least once: what's wrong with this guy? What really DID happen to this bloke that made him go bonkers? How did Mteremo, considered a wonderchild of his home village, grow up and become Bentley the Nutcase?
1. The Wonderchild

**Alright, I was doing some hardcore thinking, and came to the conclusion that there probably wouldn't be any use in firing up a poll to decide the next story of The Outlaw Archives, since I bet that Bentley would just win anyway, so I decided to just start his story right away ^^**

**It's a bit late, I know -.-... I was supposed to upload it earlier this week, but I got so overwhelmed with homework I just never got the time -.-...**

**Anyway, I really hope y'all enjoy this, and don't forget to drop a review when you're done ;)**

***** Chapter One : The Wonderchild *****

A piercing scream broke the tranquility of the jungle, scaring a flock of birds to take off from the green, lush treetops. A bunch of black and white colobus monkeys stopped whatever they were doing, before rolling their eyes and continued with their own business.

Not far from there was a deep, dark river, slithering it's way through the rainforest landscape like a snake, bending and twisting in narrow gooseneck turns. Somewhere deep in the land, right by the river, lied a village. It was quite a large village, considering that this were the village where the Queen lived non the less. The houses, or huts, were square shaped, and built from clay with sturdy roofs of straw.

This was a Bouda village, a Brown Ones village to be precise. All around the village, the brown hyenas were all busy with whatever it was they usually did; the cubs were playing and a young female were organizing her hunting pack. A young male was helping his mother with carrying an overfull laundry basket, seeing as her big belly gossiped about her approaching delivery.

Another painful scream from one of the huts located on the outskirts of the village disrupted the harmony and made everyone pause, exchanging concerned looks. They all knew what the scream meant, and by now almost the entire village was beginning to worry about the young female.

Outside the hut where the screams originated from, was a young male sitting on a bench with his face buried in his hands. He didn't look like the other hyenas in the village; while the other Brown Ones were light brown with thick, dark brown, unruly hair and mane, this hunters fur had a more yellow color, and his mane was spiky and grayish brown in color. But his most distinguished feature was the dark brown spots covering his back, legs and arms. A strand of grayish brown hair was dangling from his right temple, and was kept together by thick red and blue pearls. When another, more troubled, scream pierced the jungle, he jumped and cast a worried glance at the huts door. His eyes were blood red, and for the moment bloodshot and with dark rings under them. He hadn't had any sleep since her pains began. Besides, who can sleep knowing that your mate has been in labor for almost two days?

"Wow! You look like crap, Win!" The familiar voice made him turn his head, looking up at his big brother. "Scratch that, you look WORSE than crap!"

"Thanks, Fahamu..." Mwindaji said with a restrained sigh.

"How's things going in there?" Fahamu said and sat down next to his brother and blew some of the long hair that had fallen into his eyes. Fahamu was very much alike his younger brother, the main difference was their hair and mane; Fahamu had the Brown Ones thick, bushy do which was always covering his eyes, while Mwindaji had a duller colored version of the Spotted Ones.

Mwindaji sighed again and shook his head. "I don't know... The girls are keeping me in the dark over here!" He looked around. "Where's Etana?" He asked, referring to his three year old daughter, which there was no problems with when she was born.

"I asked Bora to keep an eye on her, he's probably off showing her the treehouse he made!"

Mwindaji nodded. "Good..."

"Ey, Win..." Fahamu said, nodding at the hut again. "I've heard even Queen Afaafa's in there now, has she said anything?"

"Well, she cursed a lot..."

"Oh..."

The younger brother didn't answer, he just threw another worried glance at the curtain, serving as a door. Fahamu sighed and threw his arm around Mwindajis shoulders and blew his hair out of his eyes again. "Listen, lil' bro, it's Shawana we're talking about here! You if anyone knows how tough that gal is! She'll be alright, just wait and see!"

Mwindaji threw his brother a faint smile, but then another cry of pain was heard from the hut and his smile vanished. Suddenly, the scream came to an abrupt stop and was replaced by silence. He perked his slightly rounder ears and listened for any signs of life, but there was nothing. Fear gripped his heart as quickly rushed to his feet and almost crashed into his sister, who stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

"I thought you were gonna rush in here sooner or later..." She said, stopping him in his tracks.

"W-what's happening, Almasi? Tell me, please?!"

The other hyena was about to answer, when the faint sound of crying was heard behind her in the hut. The cry of a newborn life made Mwindaji draw a deep sigh of relief and wipe the cold sweat from his brows. But when he saw that his sisters concerned look hadn't changed, his smile of relief vanished too.

"Almasi?" Something was wrong, he just knew it. "Almasi, what's happened?"

"We're sorry, Win..." She answered and averted her eyes. "We...!"

She was interrupted when her brother barged past her through the door and into the hut. Inside the three women who had assisted Shawana were present: the three siblings' mother; Zuwena the Spotted, and Shawanas sister and Mwindajis hunting pack leader Kiah, who sat on a stool cradling a small, weeping bundle in her arms. The Queen herself, Afaafa, was leaning against the wall, solemnly looking down at the ground with her jaw clenched shut. When she heard it was her first cousins daughter who had been in labor for far too long time, she had instantly burst out from the Council and head straight for the hut, leaving the other Council members in murmuring confusion.

Usually, his first reaction in the presence of the Queen would have been a respectful greeting, but this time he was far too worried about his mate to even register that the Queen was standing in the same room as him. All he could see was the lifeless body, covered by a bloodstained blanket. With a heavy lump in his chest, he walked as in trance up to the bed and knelt down by it. With shaking hands he unraveled the top of the blanket, exposing her face.

Shawanas eyes were closed, and at first it looked just like she was sleeping, but then he noticed how pained and exhausted she looked even in death. His throat began to tighten up and it became hard to breathe as he gently brushed away some of his dead mates thick hair out of her face.

"We should leave the boy alone..." Afaafa said while she followed Mwindajis every move with a solemn look on her aged face, scarred from the many battles and hunts she's been through.

Zuwena opened her mouth to protest, but quickly changed her mind and nodded before she left her son in the hut, shortly followed by her daughter, Kiah and the newborn cub. Afaafa gave Mwindaji a last slow shake of her head before she left with the other females. It didn't take long before they heard the muffled sobs of the hunter, mourning over his mate.

Fahamu was still sitting on the bench, when he heard his brother cry he immediately knew what had happened. "Oh..." Was all he could say as he stared down at the ground.

"Soo, Queen Afaafa..." Almasi asked cautiously, the Queen listened but didn't look up. "When do we...?"

"Tonight!" The Queen answered quickly, before Almasi could finish the sentence. "We hold the funeral tonight. Better get her spirit out of the village as fast as possible!" She snapped her head to Kiah. "Kiah, how's the little one?"

"He'll make it, I think!" The young huntress answered with a nod, just as Mwindaji staggered out of the hut and slumped down on the bench again. Nobody said anything for a while, only the quiet sobs from the infant was heard.

"We're really sorry, Mwindaji..." Zuwena was the first to brake the silence. "Something must have gone wrong, we tried to save them both, but...!"

"It's alright, mom. I'm not blaming you..." He said and threw an angry glare at the sun. He knew that looking at Her for too long could hurt your eyes, but he didn't care right now.

"Don't blame the Great Mother either, Mwindaji..." Afaafas stern voice made Mwindaji direct his attention to the Queen, leaning against the wall of the hut with her arms folded across her chest. The wild unruly dark brown mane with gray streaks on her back rustled in the gentle breeze, giving her a fierce look. "We do not question Her decisions. There's always a reason for Her to claim a mother before the child is ready"

Mwindaji gave up a restrained sigh. "Great, what do I tell Etana, then?" He winced and tried to hold back the sobs at the thought of how his daughter was going to react to news.

"Well..." Almasi said, pulling off one of her trademark smirks. "You could start by telling her that she's got a new baby brother!"

The hunters ears perked up as he was handed a small bundle wrapped up in a dirt brown cloth. He stared at the little cub, first in puzzlement, then in relief. The pain from losing Shawana suddenly felt lighter somehow as he cradled his newborn. At least their child made it out alive...

The little cub looked so much like his mother, a Brown One: a patch of thick, dark brown hair between a pair of overdimensioned, pointy ears. The light brown fur was all fuzzy and a few, irregular spots was seen faintly on his back. He slightly opened one of the large eyes and revealed the familiar red color of a Spotted One.

"But..." Mwindaji said as a new worry arose within. "What if Etana blames him for Shawanas death?" He looked up at the others. "What if she hates him? What if she...?"

"Nah, don't worry about that, Win!" Almasi scoffed. "Etana is a clever gal, she'll understand it's not his fault!"

"So, you got a name my grandson yet, Mwindaji?" Zuwena asked curiously.

"Well..." Mwindaji chuckled as the little cub grabbed one of his fingers with his entire little paw. "Shawana and I talked a bit about it last week, she liked the name Mteremo..." He nodded, the name seemed to suit the little cub perfectly. "Yes, that's his name; Mteremo!"

"Cheerful, eh?" Fahamu chuckled. But just then, the little cub scrunched up his entire little face and began to cry. Loudly! The grown ups all jumped. "Are you SURE Cheerful is a good name, Win?" Fahamu frowned in disbelief as his round ears flattened to his neck to shield himself from the noise.

"Give him a couple of years and you'll see, Fam!" Mwindaji replied with a chuckle. "Just you wait and see!"

**7 Years Later...**

The piglet screamed in fear as it was being chased by it's invisible enemy. The young warthog had been separated from his herd and driven deeper into the jungle, into the lands of the Brown Bouda people. He hadn't seen his enemy, more than a few pure white flashes between the trees, and the constant rustling of feet. Suddenly the piglet stopped and looked around. Since when had the Brown Ones been white? Maybe it was one of the Striped Ones who chased him, but in that case; what was a Striped hunter doing here in the jungles?

A sudden twig being snapped underneath someones feet made the little warthog jump in surprise and turn around. There! There was the white flash moving between the trees again! The piglet backed a few steps. That is, until it felt something tighten around his ankle and before he registered what happened, he had been hoisted into the air by the Boudas trap. He screamed in terror as the ground came further and further away before he came to an abrupt stop and his enemy emerged from the bushes. It was a pure white Bouda, his pinkish red eyes quickly found his captured prey and underneath the pink nose, his fangs were bared in a victorious grin. He looked young, perhaps in his early teens.

Suddenly the young Bouda pulled out a long, thin wooden pipe and before the piglet recognized the weapon, the poisoned dart had found its place behind the young warthogs ear and within seconds, the poison stopped it's heart. The albino drew a deep breath and wiped the sweat from his brow as two familiar adult Boudas emerged from their hideout among the bushes; his father Fahamu and uncle Mwindaji.

"Nice job, Bora! I'd say that's a new record!" Fahamu chuckled and gave his son a playful punch on the shoulder. "And the mama?"

"She didn't notice anything!" Bora said and returned the punch.

"What about Mteremo, did you see him anywhere?"

Bora shook his head and shrugged. "Sorry, too busy with my own catch!"

The other Bouda, Mwindaji, chuckled. "Oh, he's probably on his way" He shot a sly grin at Fahamu. "And I bet he's already captured his catch a long time ago!"

"You know, Win. It's YOUR son, and the only one here who's the slightest bit worried here is ME? You DO know it's warthogs they've been assigned to, right? And that Mteremo shouldn't be out hunting on his own until he's Boras age, right?"

"He's not alone, Fam! We're here to too, y'know!" Mwindaji scoffed. "I'm fully confident that Mteremo can do this, I would never have let him go if I wasn't! Besides, this was Queen Afaafas idea, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember..." The older brother answered lowly and blew some of his hair out of his eyes.

"Or are you jealous that Mteremo is better at setting traps than both you and me are, eh?"

"Pfft! So is Bora, but you don't see me getting jealous about it!"

"Yes you are!" Bora chuckled before he untied the rope that was suspending the young warthog in the air. "You told mom that if you had been half the hunter I am, they might even stretch the rules and make you a pack leader too!" He said while he hopped on the limp piglet and quickly used the rope, which was still looped around it's leg, to tie it around it's hooves and trunk.

"Oy, don't get cocky, you little squirt!" Fahamu snorted and crossed his arms, drawing out a laugh from both his brother and his son. "Haven't you heard what some tribes do to kids who boasts and exaggerates?"

A sudden rustle from the bushes got the trio to snap around and perk their ears as a cub emerged. He had leaves and twigs stuck in his bushy hair and mane, and mud caked all over his stocky body. He couldn't be more than seven years old, and was rubbing a bump on his forehead as he staggered up to the three older Boudas.

"Mteremo!" Mwindaji exclaimed happily and gave his brother a confident smirk, knowing that his son probably had a big surprise waiting for them!

"H-hi dad!" The cub said and stopped rubbing his forehead and looked up at his father.

Usually, a cub wasn't allowed to try out hunting alone until they're at least fifteen years old, almost ready to become men, but Mteremo and Bora were different; Bora was a pure white Bouda, a Descendant from the very first Bouda people who was said to have fur glistening like the mountains snow. Since their hunters were legendary for their courage and ferocity, it was only obvious that Bora too would be a skilled hunter and was training hard to live up to peoples expectations. Usually, the Descendants who're born have always been females, so why the Great Mother suddenly let a male Descendant arrive to the Earth was a puzzle, a puzzle which the Council saw as a sign. A sign for a great change!

But what no one could have foreseen was that the puny cub, whom Shawana gave up her life in exchange for his, would turn out to be just as special as his cousin; already at the mere age of four, he was running around and planted traps for the villagers. Traps that succeeded seven out of ten times! And he did something no Bouda ever done of before: used the trees to his advantage. Climbing around unnoticed in the trees to stalk his preys have earned him the nickname 'the Monkey'. Intrigued by 'the Monkey's early signs of hunting skills, Queen Afaafa had told Mwindaji to let his son hunt along with Bora, when Fahamu was going to take his son out hunting alone for the first time. Although, her choice of prey for the young hunters had taken them all by surprise: warthogs. Warthogs were known for being extremely intolerant towards intruders, especially Boudas, and overly protective of their piglets. The upside was that warthogs usually had too many piglets to keep track of, and therefore one or two could be separated from the mother without her knowing, IF done right. Or else you might end up getting chased by her, and they don't stop until they caught you. It takes both courage and wisdom to hunt down warthogs, so why Bora and Mteremo were given the task of chasing down an animal like that was beyond their fathers understanding.

"Woah, what's happened to you?" Boras eyes widened when he saw how muddy and filthy the cub was.

Mteremo shrugged. "I tripped" He answered with a sheepish smile.

"So, Mteremo, where's your catch?" Mwindaji kneeled down to get in the same eye level as his son. To his surprise, Mteremo mumbled something and looked down. Mwindaji frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry dad..." The cub mumbled a bit louder and awkwardly rubbed his foot in the ground. "I didn't catch any piglet... I couldn't separate one from the others..."

Mwindaji nodded slowly. _Of course, warthogs are too difficult! Heck, even I can't catch them, and Fahamu always ends up getting pummeled by one!_ "It's alright Mteremo, maybe we can ask Afaafa for an easier target?"

Mteremo shook his head. "Nah, but I did catch something else!" He picked up his fathers paw and tugged it. "Wanna see it?"

"Sure, why not?" Mwindaji shrugged. So it wasn't a warthog, but whatever it was it's probably better than nothing!

Fahamu and Bora tagged along out of curiosity as Mteremo led them through the thick jungle, Bora carrying his catch on his back. But when they came to a clearing, and saw what it was young Mteremo had caught, they both stopped dead in their tracks and the piglet fell to the leafy ground with a soft thud. In the middle of the clearing lied a full grown warthog, a boar. It's curled up tusks were about the size of Mwindajis arm and weighed probably at least ten times as much as both of the brothers together.

Mwindaji staggered back. "W-w-what? A-a boar, how...?"

"Sorry, dad. It's not a piglet, I couldn't reach them because this guy was in the way. He saw me and began to chase me, so I had to lure him into the trap instead. The tree broke though..." The cub looked at the side, at the thick tree that had snapped under the hogs weight.

Mteremo had been chased by one of the biggest, meanest boars anyone of the brothers had seen before. His father felt the earth rock underneath his paws when he realized, so he had to slump down on a stump to not fall to the ground. "Y-you were chased by a boar?" He still asked and winced when Mteremo nodded.

"Wow..." Bora said and touched one of the protruding 'warts' of the boars grotesque head. "Isn't this a bit creepy?"

"Yeah, and it WAS creepy too! He nearly caught me once too!"

"You trying to kill yourself or something, Mteremo?!" Fahamu burst out as he gawked at the lifeless boar. "Have you any idea how dangerous these things are?!" Mteremo averted his eyes and nodded slowly.

"Fam is right, Mteremo..." Mwindaji frowned worriedly. "Boars are among the most dangerous animals in the jungle..." But then his face broke up in a wide grin. "Except for YOU! You totally kicked this guys ass, didn't you?!"

Mteremo shrugged modestly. "Oh well..."

"Aww c'mon, kiddo! This is AMAZING! People are gonna FREAK when they hear this!" The adult hyena bounced up from the stump and ran over to the boar. "Just, HOW did you do this?!" But before Mteremo got to answer the question, Mwindaji held up his hand and interrupted his cub. "No! Don't answer it, or I won't be able to sleep tonight! Great Mother, look at this thing, Fahamu!" He turned to his older brother with an enthusiastic grin on his face.

"Yeah, I'm looking at it..." Fahamu said, his eyes completely covered behind his bangs. Mwindaji laughed gleefully and was literally bouncing around the dead boar in happiness. "Win, can I talk to you for a moment?" Mwindaji stopped prancing around like a child and nodded to his brother before the two withdrew from the cubs and the boar to talk.

"Are you sure you should encourage this?" Fahamu crossed his arms and cocked his head at his younger brother. Even though he couldn't see Fahamus eyes, he could tell that he didn't have a pleased look in them.

"Encourage what? Genius? Finesse? Talent?"

"Disobedience?"

Mwindaji frowned. "What are you implying?"

"Win, we told them both before heading out: a brawl with a boar equals death. If an adult spots them, they need to skedaddle BEFORE it attacks! Mteremo deliberately put himself in danger just for some stupid test, you know that, right?"

"C'mon,you're just jealous that my kid caught a full grown boar!"

"Seriously, Win? Your son could've died, and...!"

"I KNOW!" When the two cubs heard Mwindaji raise his voice at Fahamu, both of their heads were snapped in their direction. "I know..." Mwindaji repeated lower. "But I think he was too afraid of failing to just retreat. He looks up to Afaafa you know..." The young hunter winced. "Don't worry, I'll talk to him about it tonight... But first, lets go back and get some backup!" He grinned again and pointed with his thumb at the boar, who Bora was busy poking with a stick. "We're gonna need a lot more people if we're to move that thing before it gets stiff, am I right?" He chuckled.

…

The news about Mteremo and the boar spread like a wildfire in the village, and the Brown Boudas met it with mixed feelings; some thought it probably had been a mistake that Bora was born a Descendant, perhaps it really was Mteremo who should've been an albino instead? Most people were of course thrilled about it, but some thought it was irresponsible of Mwindaji to let his son go after a full grown warthog, and others even thought it might've been witchcraft in the game!

Queen Afaafa tried to act surprised, but something in her eyes told Mwindaji that she really wasn't. Etana, who had been studying with Almasi all day about being a hunting pack leader, literally screamed with joy as the massive warthog was brought in by no less than five males.

"It was my brother who caught it!" She boasted to everyone she met, causing Mteremo to blush and try to hide behind his father.

Afaafa was just about to proclaim that a celebration would be held, seeing as the warthog would be enough to feed the entire village, when a loud, alarmed scream echoed over the village;

"QUEEN! QUEEN AFAAFA!"

The village had gathered around the Queens hut, where the boar had been brought, and everyone was looking around in alarm for the owner of the voice. Soon, a young female pushed her way through the mass, panting heavily and clutching her wounded arm. Almasi immediately recognized her as one of her pack members.

"Gasira?!" The older sister of Fahamu and Mwindaji exclaimed when the wounded female staggered up to the Queen and fell on her knees, whimpering in pain. Almasi bolted to her friend and put a careful hand on her shoulder, instantly withdrawing when Gasira shuddered by the touch. "Gasira?! What's...?"

Queen Afaafa interrupted Almasi with a solemn snarl. "What's happened?"

"W-we were in the jungle, m-me and Kafeel, w-when we met them..." Gasira stuttered and tried to not tremble in front of the Queen, but the pain was too great. "T-they attacked us, and... and they took him!" She sobbed and hung her head. "They took my Kafeel! W-we tried to fight them off, but they... t-they were just so many... I-I couldn't...!"

"Gasira...?" Almasi frowned. "Who're 'they'?"

The young female looked up at her pack leader through her heavy, dark brown bangs. "The Spotted Ones..." She gritted her fangs. "The Spotted Ones are in the jungle! A-and they took my mate away!" She began to sob again and covered her eyes with one of her hands.

A startled murmur went through the village, and a mother protectively put her arms around her two cubs. Fahamu and Mwindaji flinched and exchanged looks, even if Fahamus eyes were completely hidden behind his bangs. The Spotted Ones territory was on the savannahs, and the open plains, why would they even bother traveling all the way to the Brown Ones jungles? And even if the Spotted Ones were known for their hostility towards others, they wouldn't just attack a couple randomly like that? What was going on here?!

Afaafa was silent for a while, thinking with her jaw tightly clenched as she used to when she was upset. "Are there any hunters out now?" She asked after a while.

Almasi nodded before helping her friend up on her feet. "Yes, Ajali and her pack left this morning..."

"Call them back!" She turned to Fumo, the drummer. "Send a message to ALL hunters to return home!" She turned to the villagers with a harsh look on her face. "NOBODY leaves the village until tomorrow! And keep a close watch on the cubs!" Her eyes darted to the three half-Spotted Boudas. "I'll go and speak with the Council now, and I want you three to come with me!"

"B-but, what about Kafeel?" Gasira sniveled and clutched her limp, bleeding arm again.

"That's what we're going to discuss..." Afaafa answered with an annoyed snarl. "And get that arm looked at! Kiah?"

"Yes, Queen Afaafa?" Shawanas older sister and ex-pack leader emerged from the villagers as she got called upon.

"Do your brother-in-law a favor and keep an eye on the cubs, I don't want them around the Council members, not after last time..."

"Hey, that wasn't our fault!" Etana protested and clung to her fathers legs.

"Exactly, we can't help that Elder Balozi is such a grumpy old hippo that can't...!" Mteremo chimed in, but discontinued when the adults gave them both stern looks.

Mwindaji chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck. "Kids, you know!" He said, and Afaafa arched an eyebrow at him while his siblings simultaneously facepalmed. Sure, Mwindaji was a great father, and his kids adored him, but he had some problems with the rules. Or lack of rules to be exact.

The boar was hastily split amongst the villagers as the the Queen and the three children of Zuwena the Spotted made haste to the Councils cottage and the rest of the villagers returned home with their families. Everyone was nervous and unsure of the Spotted Ones motives, but one thing was sure; they had already proven to be hostile when they attacked Gasira and Kafeel, and kidnapped the young hunter, separating him from his mate which was a crime worthy of banishment within all three Bouda tribes!

They listened to the sound of the drums, cutting through the tranquility of the jungle as Fumo called Ajalis hunting pack home. Unless they too had been discovered and taken captives by the Spotted Ones...

…

"Aunt Kiah?" Mteremo asked and looked up at Kiah with a concerned look as she was cradling her own, sleeping infant.

"Yes?" The mother averted her eyes to her nephew.

"Why did the Spotted Ones take Kafeel away?"

Kiah frowned and looked away. "I don't know, Mteremo... I really don't know..." She shook her head. _But they must've had a reason to come here! They NEVER leave their settlements, and everyone knows how much they hate the jungles, so why would they come all the way here? Just to kidnap a youth?! Something here stinks, and I wish I knew what..._

"Aunt Kiah?" Now it was Etanas turn to speak up. "What if it IS true that they're cannibals?!W-what if they're eating poor Kafeel right now?!" The little cub stuck her tongue out in disgust and in her eyes flickered fear.

Mteremo nodded and looked like he was going to throw up. "Kafeel-soup?" The two siblings looked at each other with horrified grimaces before they simultaneously exclaimed: "YUCK!"

"No, you know they aren't!" Kiah said amused and rolled her eyes. The rumor that the Spotted Ones were cannibals and ate their enemies to gain their strength, was instantly ruled false when Zuwena came to the village.

"But they could be?" The little girl said and tilted her head slightly.

"I don't think so! Your grandmother almost fainted when they asked her about it, you know!" Just as Kiah finished the sentence, the little cub in her lap slowly blinked her eyes open. She instantly began to cry, causing her two older cousins to clamp their paws over their ears and her mother to flinch. "Great, now Hasa woke up too... Etana, Mteremo, go outside and fetch her...!" But before Kiah could finish the sentence, the two cubs nodded and bolted out of the hut. "... doll?"

…

It wasn't until late at night when Mwindaji and his older siblings finally were allowed to leave. Mwindaji and Fahamu were silent, unlike their furious sister, who stormed up to the nearest pot and kicked it with a scream of frustration. The brothers flinched and exchanged glances when Almasis foot connected with the clay object, shattering it in hundreds of pieces.

"You know, Ajalis father worked hard with that thing..." Fahamu said as-a-matter-of-fact and took a nervous step back when Almasi shot him a homicidal look.

"Sis, we're all mad, but DON'T go about wrecking stuff again, okay?" Mwindaji said with a pained grimace. "You know how angry people get..."

"Is this the face of someone who cares about what people say at the moment?!" Almasi spat and turned to her brothers. The mane on her back was protruding like spikes, and her fangs bared in an angry snarl. Her brothers hurried to shake their heads and held up their hands in defense. "One of my best friends just lost her mate to a mangy pack of Spotted Ones, probably gone forever, and those old, moldmouthed pieces of reeking flesh won't even allow us to send a pack to track them down!" She growled and pointed with a stiff, shaking finger at the hut they just emerged from. "We should just go out there, take Kafeel back and chase those scums outta our jungle! Show them who rules these forests, but nooo! Thanks to the ineptitude of the Council, we'll ALL have to cover here in the village! Nobody will be allowed out, and instead we'll just have to sit here like scared cubs and wait until they leave! ARGH!" She let out a roar with frustration. Fahamu and Mwindaji exchanged glances once again, they knew it was impossible to argue with their sister right now.

"Sooo, I guess we should head home to our families, huh?" Fahamu said after a while, trying to save them from an awkward silence.

"Good idea there, Fam!" Mwindaji hurried to chime in. "I gotta go get Etana and Mteremo to bed kinda urgently, and I bet Bin misses you a ton too, sis!"

"Yeah, and I bet Gasira misses Kafeel even more!" Almasi mumbled and folded her arms across her chest, pouting grumpily.

"Don't be like that now, Al!" Her two younger brothers said in unison and sighed.

"I'm going to be like this until those peabrains in fancy headgears changes their minds!"

"Fine then!" Fahamu groaned. "I'm gonna go home now, I'll probably see you two tomorrow or something..."

"Umm, me too... Goodnight, Al!" Mwindaji nodded and silently scurried off to Kiah and her family to pick up his two kids. Fahamu followed his example, and soon it was only Almasi left, standing a stone-throw away from the Councils hut. She stood there alone in the silent darkness for a while, before cursing loudly to herself and stomped away home. Bin better had a funny story to tell her at home.

Meanwhile, Afaafa had been leaning against the walls in the hall and listened to Almasis raging fit. She agreed with the huntress, but the Elders had agreed on something and whenever they did, there were no changing of their minds. If she would've been younger, she would've gathered a pack of friends and hunters and gone after the Spotted Ones herself, but she just had to face it; she WAS getting old. She even managed to outlive Zuwena the Spotted and her mate Khalfani, two of her best friends ever. And her own mate had died ten years ago.

She winced when the memories came crashing over her like a merciless wave and put a hand on her forehead to keep the tears back. She knew how hard it was to lose people close to you, and when she heard that the young Gasiras mate was kidnapped right in front of her, she had to muster every ounce of self-control she owned to not summon a pack right there and then. Instead she decided to speak to the council, and brought along Zuwenas three children, in hope that they could convince the three Elders to go after the Spotted Ones, but to no avail. The old coots thought it was a too dangerous shot in the dark.

She too wanted to smash a pot right now, but that wouldn't be very 'Queenish' of her. Afaafa groaned and rubbed one of her eyes. She was going to give another shot at convincing the Elders tomorrow, if she did it now she would probably just end up breaking something out of frustration.

…

Mteremo was drowsily blinking and swaying while sitting cross-legged on his bed, desperately trying to fight sleep. "I'm not tired!" He kept protesting, and glared angrily at his father when he chuckled. "I'm a hunter, I can go for days without sleeping!"

"Oh really?" Mwindaji arched an eyebrow at his son. "Not even I can do that, you know! Everyone needs to sleep sooner or later!"

"Yeah, but you can catch a full grown warthog boar either, dad!" Etana snickered mischievously, earning a hurt look from Mwindaji.

"Okay, that was a little below the belt, don't you think?"

"Nope!" His daughter laughed and shook her little head.

"Dad? About that boar..." Mteremo said and lowered his head. "Was it really okay that I caught it? Uncle Fahamu seemed mad..." The cub didn't look up when his father got up and sat down next to him.

"No he wasn't! Not at you, at least!" He said and put an arm around Mteremos small shoulders. "He was more... concerned, I think!"

"Why?" He frowned and looked up at Mwindaji with a puzzled arched brow.

"Well, you know, warthogs are pretty dangerous, especially boars! A full-grown boar wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who happens to stumble into their path, especially if there's females with their youngs nearby! Which is seriously making me question Queen Afaafas decision in letting you two hunt down warthogs as a first assignment!" He paused and sighed heavily. "I was pretty scared shitless back there too, Mteremo. That thing would've killed you if it ever got it's hooves on you, so don't try to challenge Death anymore, okay?"

Mteremo averted his eyes again. "Sorry, dad..."

"Hey, I'm not mad at you, if that's what you think! As a matter of fact, I'm darn proud of you, kid!" He laughed to ease the mood and jokingly ruffled the thick, dark hair on Mteremos head.

"Yeah! And do you realize how cool it will be for me to say that my brother killed a warthog when he was seven!? People will be sooo jealous!" Etana said and sat down next to their father on the bed.

"See? Even your sister is proud of you!" Mwindaji laughed, earning a modest smile from Mteremo. "And she's the best one in her class, aren't you, Etana?" He shot a glance to his daughter, who grinned proudly and nodded so the wisp of hair on top of her head bobbed.

Mteremo scratched the back of his head and his eyes darted to the side. "Yeah... But some of the others seemed angry at me too..."

"Nah! They were just jealous that they themselves wouldn't be able to catch a chimp if it so was napping right in front of them!" Mwindaji scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Besides, I bet they're were too proud to admit they were impressed by a cub!"

Etana chuckled. "Absolutely! And you know what, Mteremo? I bet even mom is proud of you!" But as soon as she said it, she regretted it. The M-word was a very sensitive topic when it came to Mteremo, and upon hearing it his smile vanished as he hung his head again. "Oh, I'm sorry, Mteremo..."

The cub pulled his knees up to his chin. "Yeah... Even mom... Or she would've been..."

Mwindaji sighed and shook his head. _Not again..._

"Uh, dad? I-I didn't mean to..." Etana said and frowned worriedly at their father. "I'm sorry...!"

"It's alright, Etana..." Mwindaji bit his lip to hold back his frustration. Mteremo was only a cub, yet he had proven to be more intelligent than the others of his age, even than his older playmates, but he has one big weakness; he worries too much and too easily. Mention his mother and he'd immediately remind himself that it was when she gave birth to him that she died, thus blaming himself for her death. "Mteremo, you KNOW it's not your fault! It's never been your fault!"

"But if I hadn't been born, she wouldn't have died, right?" The cub buried his face into his knees.

"Mteremo, please, don't talk like that! You know it's not true!"

"That's not what Mbesi and his friends say... They say it's my fault that mom died, and that aunt Kiah sometimes cries at night..."

"Mbesi, Kiahs little brother?" Mteremo nodded, causing Mwindaji to scrunch up his nose in a snarl. The kid was almost a man, he should know better than that! "Well, Mbesi and his friends can go dig a hole and bury themselves in it! They don't know anything! W-wait, Kiah cries at night? Because of Shawana?"

"Yeah..." Etana looked down at her feet. "But she never wanted to tell you because she didn't want you to feel bad..."

Mwindaji winced. _Great... Well, now I do!_ He closed his eyes"Mteremo, what happened wasn't anyones fault, things like that happen! Sometimes, a life is required for another to live, and it's all up to the Great Mother to decide who goes and who stays, right?" When Mteremo didn't answer, their father clenched his jaw and pulled both of his cubs closer in a hug. "Listen up now, both of you! I miss your mom, I miss her so much it hurts sometimes! And it doesn't pass a single day without me thinking about her. But I want you both to know that if I ever had to choose between her and you two, I'd definitely choose you!" He hugged them both even tighter. "You two are the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I would be NOTHING without you, ANY of you, got it?" He smiled faintly and leaned his much bigger head against Mteremos. "Mteremo, you know what your name means, don't you?"

Mteremo was silent for a while, thinking, before he glanced up at his fathers face. "Cheerful, right?"

"Exactly!" Mwindaji nodded. "And can you promise me one thing, kid? No matter what happens in your life, stay Cheerful, okay?" The cub blinked with his large, red eyes in confusion at his father. "Don't overthink about stuff, and don't worry so much! All your life, you'll encounter tragedies and hardships, you'll even meet people who might try to break you and try to put themselves over you, nobody will ever escape things like that! But, if you let those bad things control your life, then what's the point with living at all?! No thank you, I prefer to smile and laugh it all off! I think you two should do that too, next time Mbesi comes and say something like that to you, Mteremo, laugh at him! And Etana, next time Elder Balozi gives you a hard time with an assignment in purpose, just to frustrate you, laugh at him too and complete it faster than the others! I know you can do it, the others aren't even HALF as bright as you! Laugh at them all, mock the worlds pitiful tries to bring you down!" He might have gotten a bit carried away there at the end, because he made wild movements with his hands and had sort of a maniacal look on his face that made his cubs scoot away from him and exchange suspicious looks. He chuckled and lowered his hands. "What I'm trying to say is, why be sad and moping, when it feels so much better to be happy? I know it's hard to forget about everything really bad that's happened, but it won't be easier if you walk around and think about it all day either!"

"But dad, after mom died, Fahamu said you were sad for weeks!" Etana tilted her head. "And you even cursed the Great Mother for it!"

"Yeah... I kinda did, didn't I? Well, I'm not anymore! And the Great Mother knows I didn't mean it!" _I hope!_ "I think everything happens for a reason. The Great Mother wouldn't take a mother away from it's cub before it's ready, unless she's got a reason for it" He paused to yawn. "You know what? I hate to see you two sad, especially over something as long gone as your mother, so can you two at least try to smile before we bunk down for the night? Pretty please?" The two cubs really didn't want to sleep, so they refused. Etana even pouted to make it clear that she would do anything to go to bed. "And I promise that tomorrow, the first thing in the morning, I'll take you two down fishing by the river. The Council told us to not leave the village, but if we stay along the river bend we might be able to catch something!"

"Okay!" Both of the cubs said in unison and grinned widely.

Mwindaji chuckled at their sudden change of heart and embraced them again. "I love you, guys!" He said before leaving for his own bed.

"We love you too, dad!" The cubs replied simultaneously. Mwindaji could help but to grin even wider as he shot a quick glance over his shoulder at the two cubs who started bickering about who loved their dad more.

_I wish you could see them now, Shawana..._ He thought to himself and chuckled once again. _They are both so very much alike you, it's crazy!_ "Hey, weren't you two gonna go to sleep already?!"

**Yup, so it begins xD! Just had to have that sappy little conversation between Mwindaji and his kids in this chappie, so it's a bit longer than I planned it to be, but oh well ^^**

**Not entirely sure how long this story will end up, but it will definitely be longer than Rangos story, that's for sure!**

**And I'm not sure when next chapter comes, but hopefully it won't take too long ;)!**


	2. The Spotted Ones

**Whoo, second chapter :D! So it's a little bit late, meh... I hope it's okay anyway xD!**

**Anyway, enjoy~!**

***** Chapter Two : The Spotted Ones *****

The following day passed slower than a snail slowing down in a curve. The Elders still wouldn't give in to let Almasi or any other pack leader, gather her hunters and set out to rescue Kafeel from the Spotted Ones. The orders were clear: nobody leaves the village, no exceptions.

Nobody in the village took those news well, especially not Gasira and her family. Gasira were first struck with sorrow over the fact that she would never see her mate again, but then rage came over her and she marched right up to the Councils hut and confronted the Elders. But no threats, pleas or arguments in the world could change their minds and she had to leave, disappointed and brokenhearted.

And for the two cubs, Mteremo spend the biggest part of the day thinking about the Spotted Ones, currently lurking about in the jungle.

"Dad, I wanna meet the Spotted Ones!" He burst out randomly when they were back in the hut. The long, dull day was finally coming to an end, the Great Mother was letting her final rays of sunlight color the horizon blood red and purple, before leaving the night to one of her brothers to guard.

Mwindaji turned with a frown to his son. "Why in the Great Mothers name would you wanna do that?" He asked.

"Maybe he's just as foolish as his father once was?" Almasi said teasingly, who had nothing better to do and to keep herself from becoming too upset and break something else she had spent the day with her brother and his two cubs. She chortled out a laugh at the bemused look Mwindaji gave her and returned the look with a playful punch to the shoulder. "C'mon, I'm just teasing with you, Win!"

"But dad, why are we so afraid of the Spotted Ones? Really?" Mteremo asked his dad and tilted his head curiously.

"We're not afraid of them, Mteremo...!" Mwindaji said, but before he could continue Mteremo talked again:

"Then why are we hiding from them?"

Almasi glanced at her brother. "Exactly my question too..." She mumbled bitterly.

Mwindaji ignored her and shrugged. "We're not hiding from them because we're afraid of them. We're avoiding any further conflict with them. The Elders said that a counter attack could ignite a war between the Brown Ones and the Spotted Ones, and that's the last thing this jungle needs! The Spotted Ones, you see, aren't like us... They're... strange. They aren't afraid to go to war with another people just because some petty thing, really."

"You mean they're bad people?" Etana said, more of a statement than a question.

"Nah, I wouldn't call them bad people, they're just different from us, that's all!"

"I would call them bad people, Win!" Almasi snorted and crossed her arms. "You're not forgetting what they did that caught us in this mess in the first place?! They ATTACKED two from our tribe without any provocation! Two of my best hunters on top of it all!"

"I know, Al. But I just can't help but to wonder why? I mean, they must have had some reason for their actions..."

"I know their reasons: because they're sick sadomasochists who...!"

Mwindaji interrupted his sister with a scowl and held up two fingers. "Almasi, two things, alright?One: we are are in no position to be insulting the Spotted Ones, our mother was one, remember?" Almasi nodded and began to grind her teeth. "And two, before you go on, my kids are sitting right next to you. Just so you know..."

Almasi glanced down and true; Etana and Mteremo were sitting between the two adults and looked up at their aunt with puzzled faces. "Oh... Sorry..." She flicked her eyes back to Mwindaji. "But you still called them kidnapping Kafeel a 'petty thing', didn't you"

"I didn't say THAT was a petty thing!?"

While the two adults had a very one-sided argument, where Almasi barely gave her brother time to talk back, the two cubs rolled their eyes.

"I still wanna see a Spotted One..." Mteremo said lowly and tilted his head slightly to the side. Etana frowned and shook her head, but didn't answer.

…

Mteremo couldn't sleep that night. He lay awake for hours, just thinking about the Spotted Ones. Eventually he couldn't take it any longer and sat upright and shot a quick glance Etana, who was still sleeping soundly.

"Etana?" Mteremo hissed, but that wasn't enough to wake his sister enough. Not even close! He sighed and sneaked up to her and rustled her shoulder. "Etana?" He repeated a bit louder. This time he got a half conscious groan in response. He sighed and covered her nose with his thumb and index finger. Since her air supply got cut off, it didn't take long until she jolted awake with a deep gasp for breath.

"Mteremo, what do you think...?!" She wheezed and glared angrily at her brother, who hurried to hush her and threw a nervous glance at their father. When Mteremo saw that he was still asleep, he drew a relieved sigh. "What do you want, Mteremo?" Etana whispered, angry to have been awoken in the middle of the night.

"Are you coming with me?" Mteremo asked and grinned mischievously.

"What? Where? It's in the middle of the night, Mteremo!"

"I'm going to track down the Spotted Ones!"

The two cubs went silent for a couple of seconds, before Etana raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Uh, yeah right. Goodnight, Mteremo..." She said with a yawn and snuggled down under the blanket again.

"I'm serious, 'Tana!" Mteremo hissed and yanked away his sisters blanket. "I've been thinking, the Spotted Ones have probably heard that we Brown Ones won't leave the village until they're gone, so they're not expecting anyone to find them. I bet they're so reckless even WE could track them down in the middle of the night!"

"No, Mteremo!" She said with a hint of fear in her voice. "Father has said that NOBODY is allowed to leave the village! He'll be really mad if he notices we're gone!"

"He won't notice a thing!" He scoffed and did a wave with his little paw. "We're just go out there, watch the Spotted Ones for a couple of minutes or so, and then we'll be back before the village wakes up! It's childs play!"

Etana slowly shook her head. "No! I-I don't wanna go! I've got a bad feeling..."

"What, you're chicken or something?" Mteremo smiled slyly and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Me? Chicken?" She snorted. "Never!"

"Prove it!"

"No, I... I don't know, Mteremo..."

"Chicken, 'Tana!"

"I'm not a chicken! It's just that the jungle is dangerous at nights, and the Spotted Ones sounds so mean and...!"

"Bok bok bok!" Mteremo began to cackle and scratch with his foot in the ground.

She threw him an angry look and gritted her teeth. "Alright, alright!" She said with a low mutter and held up her finger in front of the victorious Mteremo. "But you owe me one!"

…

By making less noise than a mouse on a thick carpet, the two cubs sneaked out from the village and ventured into the dark jungles. It was dead silent in the dark rainforest, the only sounds that were heard were the soft rustling of leaves as the cubs paws moved over the surface. They were lucky; this night it was time for the Great Mothers oldest brother, Big Eye, to keep a watch over the mortal world. His eye, the big round, pale yellow disc, was lighting up the world and allowed the two adventurous cubs to see, even if it was in the middle of the night.

Big Eye was the friend of all peoples, both day dwellers and nocturnal, as he allowed them to see through the nights. But he could also be deceitful, and light up what should be hidden in the darkness. Like the two disobedient cubs, out to search for a pack of hostile Bouda hunters. Spotted Ones, to be precise.

Etana kept looking over her shoulder and jump high up in the ground for the slightest sound or motion among the plants. Mteremo frowned at his antsy sister, but didn't open his mouth until she returned the frown and cocked her head. "What?"

"You're freaking out!"

"No, I'm not!" She protested and put her hands on her hips. "It's just that it's dark... and maybe a little bit spooky... Besides, we've been here for hours already, and we haven't found ANY signs of the Spotted Ones! If it weren't for Gasira, I wouldn't even believe there ARE Spotted Ones here at all!" She shook her head and nodded back to where they came from. "We should go back home, Mteremo. IF dad finds out we've sneaked out...!"

"No, I'm not going back! Not yet!" Mteremo folded his arms across his chest. "I KNOW there are Spotted Ones here somewhere, we just haven't been looking for the right things, perhaps..." He scratched his chin while he thought.

"Well, I'M going home now!" Etana snorted and turned around. "I'm going to go home and if dad asks where you are I'll tell him EVERYTHING!"

"Huh? Sch!"

"And he'll be REALLY angry when he finds out that it was YOUR idea!"

"Etana, SCH!"

She turned back around and narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Did you just shush me?"

Mteremo stood completely still, his ears were perked up and listened intently. Suddenly he snapped out of his trance-like state and leaped at Etana, pushing her into a nearby bush while he himself swiftly jumped up in the nearest tree. Still without uttering a single word of explanation to her.

"Hey! What's the big...?" Etana scrambled up from the ground and growled at the tree, where her brother was hiding. But she didn't get to finish the sentence until a squealing scream was heard and the sound of hooves drumming against the ground got closer and closer. She barely managed to dive in under cover again as a young warthog came dashing from the trees. It wasn't very large, but it wasn't a piglet either, and it's tusks had just began to grow out from its jaw. Both Etana and Mteremo gasped when they saw the broken off spear buried deep in it's shoulder.

Suddenly, a tall dark figure emerged from right in front of it, making it stop dead in it's tracks and do a sharp turn, only to find itself surrounded by two more shadowy figures. The warthog didn't see another way out, so it went with plan B: attack as best defense. It snorted and lowered it's head, waiting for it's enemies to make their move. The three hunters stood immobilized for a couple of heartbeats, just judging their prey, before one of the leaped at the warthog with a sharp dagger in her hand. The warthog was prepared for just that to happen, so it quickly stepped out of the way and when the hunter staggered to regain her balance, the warthog did a sweeping movement with its head and jammed it's stubby tusks into the hunters side with a hollow _thud_. The hunters screamed in pain as she was knocked to side, and the warthog squealed in success, but it's victory didn't last long before the two other hunters had, in a flash, leaped at the warthog and stabbed it with identical daggers as the first one. The young warthog screamed in pain and began to hop and buck wildly to get rid of it's attackers, but the two hunters stubbornly clung to his back with their daggers still buried to the hilt.

It didn't took long for the warthog to get exhausted due to the blood loss and it's tries to shake off the hunters became weaker and weaker, until it finally went down on it's knees, panting heavily and grunting in fear. One of the hunters quickly and swiftly jumped off, withdrew their dagger and used it to cut the warthogs throat, putting an end to the hunt. The other hunter jumped off as well and staggered away while the warthog took a few, trembling steps, before it collapsed to the ground and lied still, occasionally twitching as life left it's body.

Mteremo leaned dangerously far out on the branch to get a closer look at the three hunters. Suddenly, a cloud that had been blocking Big Eye moved and allowed the gods eye to once again lit the land with it's pale light, revealing the identity of the three mysterious hunters: Spotted Ones. Three hunters of the Spotted tribe. Etana whimpered quietly in fear and backed further in underneath the thick vegetation, while Mteremo whispered an amazed "wow!" and almost fell off the branch.

They were pretty similar to each other, with stubby and spiky black mane and red eyes. Their fur had a soft, pale yellow color and everywhere, except their stomachs, were covered in black spots.

Two of the Spotted Ones panted heavily while they watched their prey finally succumb to death. The third one, the one who got headbutted in the side, slowly got up on shaky legs and clutched at her pained ribs. She tried to make her way over to the other two Spotted Ones, but the pain in her side caused her to stagger and stumble over her own feet.

"Hey, Acacia, are you okay?" One of the hunters, the one who had finished off the warthog, asked and slowly made her way to her wounded comrade.

"Back off, Chiku!" Acacia, the wounded one, growled and almost went back down on her knees when a stabbing jolt of pain coursed through her torso. "I-I'm just fine!"

"No, you're not, Acacia!" The third hunter, a male, answered sternly. He sounded older than the two females and in the moonlight the two cubs could see a silvery, intricate pattern of scars snaking it's way down his right arm. Both of the cubs shuddered at the sight. Damn, that must have hurt!

They had heard that warriors and hunters of the Spotted tribe sometimes decided to get scars like that carved into their skin when they had done something great or brave and wanted to brag about it. There were even some people who had that as a job, they were known as skin-carvers. Apparently, having the right to bear carvings like that meant that you was a great and fierce person, Mteremo and Etana was just happy that they didn't do that in the Brown tribe! It's probably excruciating to have someone digging patterns in your arms or back with a knife like that!

"Chiku!" The male barked, the other female snapped her head to him. "Take Acacia back to the camp. I'll take this creature back..." Chiku nodded and went to help the wounded female back, but not without struggle.

"I said back off, Chiku! I'm fine! I can walk by myself!" Acacia protested wildly and tried to squirm away from the other Spotted One. "Wasaki! I'm fine! Tell her I can go by myself!"

The male, Wasaki, shook his head. "No, I've heard that warthogs could break all your ribs by just nudging them, we can't take any risks here!"

Eventually, the two females disappeared off into the dark jungle, Acacias wild protests were echoing among the trees and plants until Chikus irritated voice drowned out Acacias complaints. "I swear to the Great Mother, Acacia, if you hit me one more time I'll tie you to a tree and leave you here for the mosquitoes! We'll see how much you hate the jungle then!"

"Go dig a hole, Chiku!"

"And I'll bury you in it if you don't stop flailing around so much, Acacia!"

Wasaki chuckled and turned to the warthog. It was only slightly longer than him from snout to tailtip, but probably weighed at least twice as much. He sighed and shook his head. "There's gotta be a better way to get this thing through the woods..." Suddenly his hand flew to his neck with a loud _swat_. "Damn these mosquitoes, I HATE the jungle!" He muttered bitterly to himself as he flicked the squished bloodsucking little insect away and tied the warthogs front hooves together with a strong vine before dragging it away after the two females.

Mteremo hesitated for a while, before he slid down the trunk and followed the Spotted Ones. He didn't get far until Etana grabbed his hand and held him back.

"And WHERE do you think you're going?! We gotta get out of here!" She hissed as quiet as she could, in case the Spotted One still were within earshot.

"Why?! I wanna follow these guys! What if we find like, their secret lair or something?" Mteremos round, red eyes literally sparkled with curiosity and excitement. "And did you see the way they were hunting that thing down?! They weren't using traps like we do, they just jumped on to that thing!"

"Yeah, that's how they hunt on a savannah, now let's go already!" She whimpered and looked around, afraid in case they decided to return. "I don't wanna be here anymore, Mteremo!"

Mteremo yanked his arm back from his sister and frowned. "Fine, chicken out then, chicken! I wanna know more about these guys!" And with that he darted off after the Spotted male with the warthog, leaving Etana alone in the jungle.

She nervously looked around before wincing and ran after her little brother. "If we survive this, Mteremo, I'll kill you!"

…

Trying to stay unnoticed by the Spotted One, dragging the young warthog behind him, proved to be more difficult than they both anticipated. His senses were sharp, and it didn't take much for him to halt and snap around, scanning his surroundings. But he never spotted them, luckily. And by the end when he reached their camp, he was pretty much paranoid and jumped for every little sound.

"Gee, I really hope we'll leave this jungle soon!" He said to the others and loaded off the prey by the campfire. "This place gives me the creeps, and not to mention all these darn mosquitoes!" To prove his point, he swatted a mosquito that landed on his arm.

By the campfire sat another four Spotted Ones, three females and another male. One of the females was checking up on the wounded one, Acacias, injury, while the third female, Chiku, sat with her knees pulled up to her chin and rocked back and forth, occasionally throwing glances at a group of tied up critters underneath the massive roots of an old, mossy tree.

"Don't you worry, Wasaki..." The female tending to Acacias wounds, probably their leader, said. "Biton has just finished the raft that will take us down the river to our rendezvous point"

"About time too!" Chiku mumbled and scratched a point on the shoulder where a mosquito just bit her.

"Hey!" Biton, the other male, said like he just got his feelings hurt. "It could have been done faster if you helped, but nooo! You just HAD to go hunting, didn't you?!"

"Are you blaming me for YOUR sluggishness?!" Chiku snarled at Biton.

"Oh don't you two start now again!" The leader snapped with a sharp growl, stopping the fight before it began.

"But we're siblings, it's our job!" Chiku and Biton said in unison, and got a stern look from the other three Boudas.

Meanwhile, Mteremo and Etana were watching them from their hiding spot underneath a fallen, rotting tree trunk. Mteremo was busy studying the Spotted Ones with poorly concealed fascination, so when his sister nudged his elbow and pointed at the captives, he jumped in surprise and nearly yelped.

"Look, Mteremo! There's Kafeel!" She said, and after a while, he spotted the familiar Brown One.

Kafeel looked really beat up, and one of his ears had a big, bleeding hack in it. His arms were tied to his back, just like the others. He was every now and then throwing frightened glances at the pack sitting by the campfire, and whenever he made eyecontact with Chiku, he hurried to look away.

Suddenly Chikus mouth was curled up in a grin and she got up from the campfire. She made her way to the captives and sat down right opposite to Kafeel, who tried to scoot away from the Spotted female.

"Hi, are you gonna talk to me now?" She said, sounding optimistic, but all she got was a frightened glare from Kafeel. She sighed and shook her head.

"Leave that guy alone already, Chiku!" Their leader said with a warning tone in her raspy voice. "No idea getting attached to him, you know that they're for the Strangers, not us!" She rolled her eyes. "Besides, you've already got a mate!"

"Yeah, but not for much longer! Remember how he looked when we left? That bastard's more dead than alive, all thanks to that zebra kick to the skull!" Chiku said and cocked her head at Kafeel, her grin seemed to grow wider. "But that's alright, I never liked him anyway..." She went down on her fours and moved a skip closer to Kafeel, causing him to back off even further until his back made contact with the tree. Chiku giggled and ran a finger along Kafeels nose. "I gotta admit, you're kinda cute! For a Brown One!"

"For the love of the Great Mother, Chiku! What did Tanith just say?!" Biton groaned, got up from the ground and stretched his arms. "Alright, I'll be right back!" He said and turned around.

"And where are you going, Biton?" Wasaki said with a suspiciously arched eyebrow.

"Nature calls!" Was Bitons answer as his back vanished into the jungles darkness.

"Hey, stay away from the leaves with a shiny upside this time!" Tanith shouted after him and shook a fist. "I'm NOT helping you out if THAT happens again!" The three Brown Ones in the area all rolled their eyes simultaneously. Bloody tourists...

"Mteremo..." Etana said carefully after a while. "We should go! We know where they are now, we should go back home and tell everyone!"

"Tell them what? That we ran away during the night after our curfew, into the jungle no one's allowed to be in and searched for the ones everyone has been told to avoid?" Mteremo snorted and shook his head. "You said so yourself; dad will be beyond angry if he finds out!"

"But we can't just stay here! What if they finds us? And we need to free Kafeel!" Etana said and bit her lip. "I... I think I'm scared..."

"Pfft! And you're supposed to be a future pack leader?! Hunters aren't afraid, 'Tana!" Mteremo snorted and tilted his head at her. "See this as an adventure, instead! All we have to do is to make sure to get back home before sunset, and that will be easy!"

"How?! We're in the middle of the jungle! In the middle of nowhere!" She looked around flustered. "I've never this deep into the jungle before!"

"See the river there? That's the same river that passes our village!" He pointed at the glistening water surface that was partially visible through the trees. "All we have to do is to follow that...!"

But he didn't get to finish that sentence until both he and Etana felt a clawed hand grab their ankles and roughly pull them out from their hideouts. They both yelled in fear as they were lifted into the air and held upside down, while a victorious cackle was heard from the one who found them.

"Hey! Lookie here!" Biton laughed and held the two terrified, writhing cubs in the air, the other Spotted Ones curiously turned around to him. "Look what I found!"

Etana growled and swung herself around and grabbed his leg with both hands before burying her short fangs into his thigh. Biton first staggered in surprise when she grabbed, and upon feeling the teeth puncture his skin, he yelped in shock and instinctively let go of the cubs. They fell to the ground and landed on their back.

"Mteremo, RUN!" She screamed and managed to scramble to her feet and took off as fast as her legs could carry her. Mteremo was momentarily stunned upon hitting the ground, and he had barely managed to get up when two strong arms grabbed him and lifted him high from the ground again. His crimson eyes met a pair of equally red eyes, belonging to Wasaki and he whimpered in fear when the Spotted One bared his fangs in a snarl.

"And what do we have here, huh?" He growled lowly as a loud, protesting scream was heard from the jungle, as Chiku snatched Etana up.

"Hey! This one has spots all over her!" Chikus surprised voice bounced between the trees as she struggled to hold the reluctant Etana in a tight grip.

"And this one has red eyes!" Wasaki hollered without dropping the eyecontact between him and Mteremo.

Tanith raised an eyebrow as she walked up to the two cubs. The cubs were held still by the hunters who caught them and they both stared at the pack leader with mixed emotions. Tanith leaned down to the two of them, her eyes wandered from Etanas earth colored eyes, to Mteremos crimson ones. "Who're are you two, and what're you doing here?"

…

The Great Mother was returning to the sky as a new day dawned, bringing along a spectrum of red, pink, yellow and orange on her way up.

Mwindaji yawned and slowly got up to a sitting position as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Any second now, Etana and Mteremo would make a beeline for his bed and they would both jump up on him to tell him to wake up faster. He knew, for this was the everyday morning routine. But nothing happened. No cubs came rushing.

He yawned again and sleepily opened his eyes. They weren't standing by the bed either. He frowned and peered around the room before his eyes locked on the two beds by the furthest corners. They were both empty. Mwindaji felt his heart skip a beat as he put his feet down on the ground and stalked up to his childrens beds.

They really were empty. He looked underneath them as well, but he couldn't see anyone there either.

He started to get worried as he took one last look around the hut before he dove head first out through the doorway.

"Etana?! Mteremo!?" He called, but got no response. He felt his pulse start to race as he zig-zagged through the village, calling their names. He called louder and louder, until he was practically screaming. The villagers sleepily poked their heads out through the doors and some even yelled at him to be quiet as they had all been waken up by his shouting. But soon they realized that something was wrong, and they too walked out in the early morning.

"W-Win? What's going on?" Fahamu yawned and nearly walked head first into a drying pole. "What's all this hullabaloo about?"

Mwindaji was staggering about, his voice hoarse from all the yelling. "Have you seen Etana and Mteremo?!" He half asked, half screamed, at his brother.

Fahamu shook his head and blew some hair out of his eyes. "What? Have one of your hide-and-seek games gone out of hand once again?" He chuckled, but stopped smiling when he saw the worried look on his little brothers face. "Win?"

"N-no!" Mwindaji gritted his teeth and staggered around again. "T-they're gone! They just... They're just GONE!" His voice almost cracked at that last bit and fear was making his heart go crazy in his chest. "I woke up and they weren't there! W-what if..." He turned back to Fahamu, just begun to pant in panic. "What if the Spotted Ones took them?"

"No, don't be silly! They're probably just messing with you, Win!" Almasi muttered as she came walking from her own hut. "Which wouldn't happen so often if you'd just keep those two on a leash..."

"No! No, no! Something... Something's wrong! I can feel it!"

"Win, you're hyperventilating! Slow down!" Fahamu frowned underneath his bangs and put a hand on his brothers shoulder. "They're here somewhere, just calm down before you pop a vein, okay?"

"NO!" Mwindaji pulled away from his brother and violently shook his head so the little hair-pendulum threatened to flick him in the face. "I'm not gonna calm down until they're here and I know they're safe! ETANA?! MTEREMO?!"

Almasi and Fahamu was worriedly watching their brother as he ran through the village in a panicked fashion once again, screaming his head off for his two missing kids. "This time those two brats really overdone it!" Almasi growled and crossed her arms.

"Al..." Fahamu said and slowly shook his head. "I don't think they're messing around this time..." The brother and sister exchanged glances, knowing that they were both thinking the same thing; _The Spotted Ones._

**Moral of the story? Don't spoil your kids...**

**Okay, anyway, let's see how things go in the next chappie, eh? Word of advice: keep a bucket of ice-cream close by. A BIG bucket of ice-cream xD.**

**Oh, and tissues! Loads of tissues...**

**See y'all next chapter then ;D!**


	3. The Strangers

**Next chappie here, it's a really, REALLY long one o_o"... Sorry guys, false alarm on the ice cream! Tissues might still be needed though!**

**Anyway, enjoy ^^!**

***** Chapter Three : The Strangers *****

They managed to get Mwindaji calm enough to go to the Council without having any panic attacks there on the way. Ever since he realized that his children has disappeared during the night, the poor guy had been running around the village and constantly called for the cubs.

Fahamu and Almasi had eventually joined him and combed the entire village for Etana and Mteremo, but they ended up with nothing. Which only added on to Mwindajis worry. With a hostile pack of Spotted Ones sneaking around in the jungles and all, it didn't look to bright for the cubs safety.

They knew nobody was allowed to leave the village under any circumstances, considering the Spotted Ones presence, but they still made their way to the Council with a faint, naïve glimpse of hope that maybe, just maybe, they would make an exception for this worried family and allow them to go searching for the two missing cubs.

The immediate 'no' they got hardly came to any surprise, but Mwindaji still flinched and took a staggering step back before his round ears flattened to his neck and he bared his fangs at the Elders, snarling angrily.

"No? NO? You do know it's MY CHILDREN who might be in danger?! They're all I've got left after Shawana, and you're telling me I should just forget about them?! What if they've been taken by the Spotted Ones?! What if they've been hurt?! What if...?!" He was interrupted by a wave of the hand from Elder Balozi.

"Your 'what if's are based on paranoid delusions" The old hyena scoffed. "Even if the Spotted Ones had found your children, which I doubt, I can hardly imagine that they would hurt them in any way, they are just cubs after all!"

Mwindaji was still growling silently at the Elders, his face scrunched up in an angry snarl. His older siblings exchanged glances. Mwindaji was the only one of the three who had at least a sense of self-control, and could hold back his anger. In fact, getting Mwindaji angry was a lost art! But now, he was so overrun by worry for his cubs that he was even baring his fangs at their leaders! Queen Afaafa was also there, sitting on her thrown with her arms crossed and tapping her finger on her arm. She didn't like where this were going either.

But Elder Balozi ignored the younger hyenas anger and kept talking; "But I bet they're just defying our rules, again! They've probably just run off into the jungle to play, they'll be back before the end of the day, I'm sure of it!"

Another one of the Elders, Elder Ghubari, nodded in agreement. "And when they do, I wish you'd grow a spine for once and scold them!" She was met by acknowledging nods from the other two Elders. "You're too soft with them, Mwindaji. They need boundaries, you're letting them do whatever they want and they won't even get as much as an angry look from you!"

Mwindaji flinched in surprise and glanced at his siblings, who both stood behind him. Almasi grimaced and scratched the back of her neck. "I hate to say this, Win, but she's got a point there..." She said, and Fahamu nodded.

"In fact, you seem to encourage their disobedient behavior, don't you?" The third Elder, Elder Jahidi, said with a disapproving grunt.

"No, I don't!" Mwindaji hurried to defend himself.

"Yes, you do. You are treating your cubs like they're your friends..."

"Hey, I just want them to live life and have a little something called 'fun', okay?" Mwindaji snapped in return and balled his fists. ""They're just kids, for cryin' out loud!"

"But not for much longer!" Elder Balozis voice thundered over Mwindajis, and the aging hyena stood up from the chair, frowning in annoyance at the hunter. "They both will grow up and soon they'll start to have to fulfill their responsibilities towards their village. Take Etana for example, she's got the makings of a great leader in her! She's brave, fast, intelligent and strong, but she's got a huge flaw; she can't take critiques, or being told off! A leader can't afford to be negligent of her own flaws, an arrogant leader could be the end of her pack! I agree with you, it's good to encourage them and point out their strong sides, but too much praise could also be dangerous. If they're told they can do anything, they might throw themselves off a cliff because they think they can fly and fall to their deaths!" Mwindaji didn't reply. He didn't know what to say! "From now on, you NEED to take control of your cubs, before they try to fly...!"

"Enough, Balozi!" Queen Afaafa snapped, interrupting the Elder. Balozi turned with a surprised look on his face to the Queen. "His cubs are missing, he's sick with worry and all of you have the guts to scold him for being a bad parent?" Afaafa sighed and leaned back, making the vines and young trees in her throne to creak and moan. "Yes, perhaps his parental abilities aren't perfect, but he's a good teacher. He has taught his children well when it comes to hunting, and they're the two most clever cubs I've ever seen. Take Mteremo and the warthog for instance, I don't think anyone has ever heard about a seven year old take down a full grown warthog boar all on his own! That's a story that will spread throughout the entire jungle, perhaps even further than that! Maybe even the Striped Ones will eventually hear the story of how a Brown One cub managed to defeat a boar." Afaafa couldn't help but to snicker at the thought, and she earned a thankful smile from Mwindaji. "But what happened isn't his fault. I too can sense that there's something happening in the jungles. Even if you might be right, Balozi, maybe they're just off goofing around in the jungle, but that doesn't mean they're entirely safe..." Afaafa paused and her hand gripped the armrest, digging the dark claws into the old wood.

The others noticed how tense the Queen had gotten, and Elder Ghubari cautiously cleared her throat. "What's wrong, Queen Afaafa?"

Afaafa hesitated before answering with a solemn voice: "I just remembered a dream I had last night. I think the Great Mother tried to tell me something; our village was burning. Dead bodies were piling on the ground, heaps with Striped, Spotted and Brown Boudas, but also colobus, chimps, Simbas, wild dogs, caracals, snakes, lizards, even a few cheetahs were scattered around the lands." She clenched her eyes shut when the images returned to her mind. "And in the middle of it all, stood two Boudas. They were both full grown hunters, fierce and strong they stood in the middle of the destruction, their spears ready. One male, and one female. The female was without the shadow of a doubt Etana. I'd recognize that little tuft on her head anywhere. But the male, despite being covered in blood and soot, his fur had the same glistening color as the snow on the mountains"

Fahamu flinched. "B-Bora?" Afaafa nodded seriously, her wild grayish mane rubbed against the back of the throne with a dry rustle.

"But, what about Mteremo?" Mwindaji couldn't help but to ask.

"I'm sorry, Mwindaji. I didn't see him anywhere. But when I woke up, I had a feeling that the Great Mother meant something with the dream. I don't know what exactly, but something will happen in our jungle. Something that might concern Bora and Etana the most. But for some reason, I felt that Mteremo might have had something to do with it too..." Afaafa blinked as she gazed blankly at the ground. "I just can't stop thinking about all that destruction though. It looked almost like a war zone. But what those two would have to do with it, is beyond my reach..."

"Well, if those two are going to start a war, then I say we leave the cubs in the jungles! A war is the last thing we want!" Elder Jahidi pointed out, earning stern looks from the other Boudas in the hut.

"I'm not favoring the idea of casting out two mere cubs, just because of a dream our Queen about one of them, but we can't just go out after them either" Balozi shook his head and sat down with a heavy sigh on the chair again. "But we'll wait until nightfall, if they aren't back when the Great Mother goes to sleep, we'll send two hunters out after them the first thing in the morning. Who is for this idea?" Everyone except Elder Jahidi raised a hand. Mwindaji nodded and bit his lip. At least that was better than nothing, but he still didn't like the idea of his two children, all alone in the dark of the woods. "Then it's decided! And Mwindaji, for now, I suggest that you go home and wait. Who knows, they might already be at home?"

Mwindaji nodded again. "A-alright..." He answered with a whisper. Although he really doubted that they were home. He had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong! When Almasi suddenly put her hand on his shoulder, he was jerked back from his thoughts and realized that he had walked out of the hut, shortly followed by his older siblings.

"Are you alright, Win?" Almasi asked with concern in her voice, which was really rare that she had.

Mwindaji didn't answer her. "W-what if..." He said with a shaky voice and turned around to her. "What if they're in trouble? The jungle is a dangerous place, even more dangerous with the Spotted Ones around!" He bit his lip to keep it from shaking. "What if they're hurt, badly? Or what if... they're... dead?" He whispered out the last word, unable to say it out loud. Almasi was about to answer when Mwindaji suddenly buried his face in the palm of his hands and began to sob quietly.

She tilted her head in confusion. _Don't tell me he's crying?!_ She thought to herself, but that was exactly what he was doing. Once again, she and Fahamu exchanged glances, not really sure how to handle the situation. Mwindaji never got angry, even less started to cry! The last time they had seen, or heard him, cry was when Shawana died. And that was over seven years ago! "W-Win? C'mon, stop crying will you?" Almasi chuckled nervously and carefully patted her little brothers arm. "It'll be alright, you'll see! Balozi was probably right, what if they're on their way home now? And who knows, Mteremo maybe caught another boar?! Great Mother, we'll have food for at least a month!" She grinned widely and threw her arms out.

Mwindaji stopped sobbing and looked at his sister through his fingers. "No... They aren't coming home..." He said with a thick voice and hid his face behind his hands again. "I was an awful mate, and now I'm an even worse father! First I lost Shawana, and now I've lost Etana and Mteremo too!"

"C'mon, bro! Stop beating yourself up!" Fahamu said and walked up to Mwindaji and threw a brotherly arm around his shoulders. "Look, personally I think you're an AWESOME father, I mean look at your kids! Sure, they have some problems with listening to the adults, but other than that, I think they'll be the greatest hunters in the tribe! Well, except for my Bora of course! Besides, imagine Mteremo and Bora in the same hunting pack, with Etana as their leader, wow! They would be unstoppable, am I right? And do you know why? Because they've learned from you! Sure, Mteremo really has a knack for setting up traps, but who taught him how to make a loop? Or dig a hole with spikes?" He paused and pointed with his free hand at his brother. "YOU did! And the way they're able to navigate through the jungles, I'm SURE they'll find their way back! Besides, they just have to find and follow the river if they get lost, and maybe watch out for Mokele Mbembe..."

Almasi rolled her eyes and pushed Fahamu away. "What I think our dear brother is trying to say is; it's not your fault, okay? You should know better than anyone that your cubs are the toughest kids in the village!"

"Except for Bora..." Fahamu mumbled almost inaudibly, but Almasi heard him and shot him a warning look.

"They'll be alright! Don't worry! If they won't return, it's probably because they've manage to get lost, but they know what to do if that happens so I KNOW that they'll be alright until the two hunters gets sent out!" She smiled reassuringly and put her hand on Mwindajis chin. "I promise!" Mwindaji looked at her, it was clear that he wasn't buying any of what she said. "Y'know, I think you should do as Elder Balozi said: go home and get some rest! You look like the walking dead!" She chuckled, turned him around and gave him a slight push in his homes direction. "So! Get going!"

Mwindaji sighed and obeyed, walking with heavy steps back to his hut and his mind was cluttered with thoughts and frightening scenarios concerning his cubs. Fahamu turned with a worried frown to Almasi. "Man, I've never seen him like that before..." He mumbled and watched as his brothers back disappear among the huts in the village.

"Me neither..." Almasi shook her head.

"Do you really think they'll be back?"

Almasi hesitated before answering her little brothers question. "I'm not sure Fahamu. I'd like to think that, but now I don't know. They've never been gone for this long before, what if something actually happened to them?"

"Dad! Dad!" Another familiar voice was heard, accompanied by the sound of footsteps approaching, and Fahamu and Almasi turned around just as Bora jogged up to them. The pure white cub came to a screeching halt in front of his father and his aunt and breathed heavily as he flicked his look between the two. "Any news about Mteremo or Etana?" He panted with a frown between his brows.

Almasi shook her head again. "No, they're still gone..."

Fahamu crossed his arms. "And you were supposed to help your mother with the wash, wasn't you?"

"We're done!" Bora said and rolled his eyes. "We've been done for an hour"

"Oh, in that case..."

"Anyway, where's uncle Mwindaji? Mom has told me that the dinner is almost ready, and she wants both Mwindaji and you, aunt Almasi, to join us! Bin is welcome too!"

Almasi and Fahamu exchanged glances for a third time. "I think Mwindaji needs to be alone for a while, but I'm coming!" Almasi said with a nod at her hut. "I'll just go and get Bin and we'll be right there with you!"

…

Mwindaji made it to his hut and went straight for his bed. Sitting on the edge with his face buried in his palms, he was thinking. He was worried sick for Etana and Mteremo, and he KNEW something had happened to them.

He glanced at his spear that was leaning towards the wall near the bed. He reached his hand out and first touched the cool wood with his fingers, before gripping the long staff and brought it closer. He remembered when Mteremo tried to lift it for the first time, it was probably four times his size! A faint smile was visible on Mwindajis lips at the memory, but then it vanished.

Mteremo and Etana were in danger. Call it a fathers intuition, or an inner voice, but something told him that his cubs were in trouble, and they needed him! He slowly got up from the bed, still holding the spear with both of his hands. He was going to get his cubs back. He couldn't wait until the night, then it might already be too late!

He had already lost his mate to the Great Mothers will, but he was NOT going to let Her take his cubs too!

…

Mteremo slowly opened his eyes. His body ached like he had been sleeping on something hard, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't move his arms. His eyes shot open when he realized he was tied with his hands in front of him. Suddenly he remembered everything that had happened yesterday.

_The Spotted Ones? _"E-Etana?" He stuttered in fear, his mouth felt dry and his little heart began to race in his chest. "Etana!"

"I'm here!" The sound of his sisters voice calmed him down slightly and he managed to get up into a sitting position. Next to him was his sister, she too was tied with her hands in front of her. She looked just as frightened as her brother, but she tried to mask it behind a defiant frown.

"Mwindajis kids?! A-are you two alright?" A gentle, familiar voice said, and the two cubs snapped around and spotted Kafeel, Gasiras lost mate, sitting right next to them. He was sitting on his knees, his arms tied around his back and he had a rope around his neck, which was linked to the others, who also had ropes around their necks. Mteremo felt a twinge of panic when he noticed that him and Etana too wore ropes like the others. "What are you two doing here anyway?!" Kafeel frowned when the two cubs nodded in reply to him. "Don't tell me you ran away alone?!"

Etana gave Mteremo an angry look. "Yes, we did!" She spat out in an accusing tone, making Mteremo bit his lip and stare down at his hands.

"What were you thinking?!" Kafeel hissed, trying to keep his voice down. "I NEVER thought I'd see you two here, and when that Biton pulled you two from underneath that log, I thought I was hallucinating! J-just, WHAT are you two doing here?!"

"I... I just wanted to see the Spotted Ones up close..." Mteremo mumbled and glanced at Etana. "I-I'm sorry, 'Tana..."

"Well, now we're stuck here because of you!" Etana muttered bitterly and held up her tied up hands. "Thanks!" Mteremo averted his eyes in shame.

"Oh well, what's been done is done..." Kafeel sighed heavily. "How's Gasira? Is she okay?"

Etana nodded. "Yeah, but she's really worried about you! I think she's got a damaged arm, but that's about it!" Kafeel drew a deep sigh of relief.

"What about dad? What if he's really worried about us?!" Mteremo asked and desperately tried to writhe out of the ropes around his wrists. "We gotta get back! We have to go back and tell them...!"

"Yeah, good luck with that, kiddo..." A grumpy voice said in staggering Bouda. The two cubs looked at the young orange and blue rock agama who spoke. The lizard ignored their looks. "Trying to escape these Spotted devils are like walking on water: impossible. We tried to untie the ropes, but that big one, Wasaki or whatever his name is, was over us before we could finish untying the rope! He sleeps too light! But if we could get rid of him, we'd be out of here before sunrise!"

"You speak Bouda?" Etana said with her head confusedly tilted to the side.

"Yeah, this is Lutalo" Kafeel said with a nod at the colorful agama. "His people are friends to the Striped Ones"

Lutalo gave them a short nod. "Very close friends. My mother was the friend of Queen Nyathera herself" He grinned a lopsided grin. "We were almost like royals ourselves!"

"But, what happened?" Etana asked curiously. "How come you're a captive like us?"

Lutalos eyes flashed angrily. "Cowardly Spotted devils sneaked up on me while I was napping. They attacked me from the back, and next thing I know, I'm stuck like this!" He did and angry nod at the ropes. "They should have faced me like warriors! Not like some cowardly back-stabbers! And I'm not a prisoner like you! I am Lutalo! Son of chief Lugondo! I'm a warrior!" He threw a dark look at the Spotted Ones. "And when I get free from this, I'll show those Spotted devils how to fight like a man!"

"Yeah, yeah, we heard you the first time, you know!" Bitons sleepy voice said, followed by a loud yawn. The four who had been talking quickly turned around and watched as the young Spotted hunter and his sister walk towards the prisoners.

Kafeel winced when he saw Chiku strolling towards him with a wide grin on her face. "Not her again!" He whispered and flattened his big, pointy ears to his neck.

"Yes, it's her again!" Chiku chuckled, apparently she had heard him.

"Oh Mother..." Biton sighed and rolled his eyes at his sister before he walked up to one of the trees thick roots that looped over the ground and untied the rope around it. Chiku walked up to another root and untied that rope too. "It's time to move! I hope none of you easily gets seasick!" Biton said with a dry chuckle. The tied up critters who didn't understand him exchanged scared or confused looks.

"Gee, I hope we'll reach the place before nightfall..." Chiku mumbled and gave the rope she held in a tug, signaling for the captives to get up on their feet. They didn't have much of a choice, so they struggled to get up with their tied hands. "I wanna get back home as soon as possible!" She shuddered and took a look around the clearing. "I really don't like all this..."

"This what?" Biton blinked at her in puzzlement.

"Everything! The jungle, the mosquitoes, these guys..." She did a nod towards the captives. "I just wanna get this over with!"

"Then why are you guys here in the first place?" Etana said with a faint growl, probably to hide her nervousness. "We haven't done anything to you! I bet none of these people have! Why are you doing this?!" The two Spotted Ones looked at the Brown One cub with uncertainty. "Do you have any idea how much Gasira misses Kafeel, and how worried she is?!" Etana continued, finding new strength in the Spotted Ones skeptical and surprised faces. "And when our father comes to get us back, you'll ALL be sorry! He's the best hunter in the village, he can track a fish in water!"Suddenly she nodded at Mteremo with a sly grin. "And did you guys know that the same day you stole Kafeel from Gasira, my little brother caught a full grown boar ALL by himself! A LOT bigger than the ones you three caught!"

Mteremo seemed to shrink next to his sister and he gulped when the two Spotted Ones turned their heads to the little cub. "E-Etana? What're you...?"

"And my father taught him how! Because our father is Mwindaji, the Hunter, and he'll bury you underneath the earth like the low-life worms you are!" Etana ignored her brother and was now practically shouting at the Spotted hunters. "He'll come! And our uncle Fahamu and aunt Almasi will come too! And they'll make you wish you NEVER set a foot here in OUR jungle, you Spotted freaks!"

"Strong words from someone who has Spotted blood in her..." A third voice rumbled from behind Etanas back and the little cub quickly spun around, only to discover that Wasaki was standing right behind her. His arms were crossed over his chest and he didn't look the least bit amused.

"Spotted blood?" Chiku asked the big huntsman with a slight tilt of her head. "These little ones are Spotted too?" She frowned and glanced down at the two cubs. "But they're from a Brown One village?"

"You two are too young, you haven't heard about Zuwena the Mad, haven't you?" He asked and switched his gaze between the two younger hunters. Both Chiku and her brother shook their heads in unison. "Well, Zuwena was a huntress from the Serengeti village. Nobody is sure what exactly happened, but when she was expecting her and her mates first cub, she went completely insane and killed her mate in cold blood. But her mate had fought valiantly, and Zuwena was left with serious damages, amnesia and a dead born. She was later banished out of the village, and was taken in by a pack of gullible Brown Ones. As a Brown One, she could chose any mate as she wanted and picked an hunter and had three children." Wasaki grinned faintly and bent down to the cubs eyelevel and locked eyecontact with Etana. "It appears as if we've run into the crazy ol' hags grandchildren. I wasn't sure of it before, but when you mentioned Almasi, Fahamu and Mwindaji, a little bell rang in my head. I've heard about those three children of Zuwena, the Spotted Ones who pretends to be Brown Ones. I guess that Zuwenas craziness was passed on to her children!"

"That's a lie! Grandma Zuwena wasn't crazy!" Etana snorted and bared her fangs at the tall hunter. "It was Aailyah! Aailyah ordered her son Akida to kill Zuwena and Fadhili! Zuwena was innocent, it was Aailyah who was behind it all! SHE was the crazy one! And she deserved getting defeated by Hazina and thrown out of the village! She was nothing but a crazy old hag who was jealous on everyone and everything around...!"

Wasaki growled and grabbed the cub by the little wisp on her head. Etana shrieked in pain and shock and tried to pry Wasakis large hands away from her hair. "Careful, that's MY mother and brother you're talking about, little squirt!" Wasaki growled silently. "They would NEVER do such a thing! Akida might be big and dumb, but he wouldn't hurt a fly! And there's no one wiser than mother!"

"Hey! Let 'Tana go!" Mteremo squeaked and jumped up on the hunters arm and tried to bite him.

"Why you little...!"

"WASAKI!" Wasaki drew his foot back and was about to kick Mteremo off him, when a sharp, raspy voice barked out his name and made him stop with his foot in mid air. Tanith, their leader, was standing by the campfire with her arms crossed and a hard look on her face. "That's enough, Wasaki. You know that the Strangers won't like it if their captives are hurt!"

Wasaki muttered something and let go of Etana and shook Mteremo off his arm, but Chiku stared at Tanith with a shocked expression. "We're taking the cubs with us?!"

Tanith nodded sharply. "Yeah"

"But, they're just cubs!" The young hunter looked down at the cubs. "What could the Strangers want with a pair of cubs?!"

"They could always have some use for them..." The leader said with a shrug. "Now, let's get everyone on the raft so we can get going! It's not much further now!" Chiku hesitated, but then she nodded and gave the rope in her hand, which connected to Lutaros neck-ring, another tug, making the entire row of captives move. Kafeel, Etana and Mteremo were the ones walking in the back, where Biton was walking with the other end of the rope in his hand.

The raft Biton had made the previous day seemed okay to the others, but the three Brown Ones almost got heart attacks by the mere sight of it. It would never stand the wilder currents, not since it was all being held together by nothing but vines! "Umm, I'd rather swim..." Etana said as she was being pushed up on the rocking raft.

Acacia was still wounded from yesterdays hunting accident, and was lying on her back on the raft, the water that managed to make its way up on the raft seeped it's way through Acacias clothes and fur. Which did nothing to improve her already shitty mood.

"Hey, how are you feeling today, Acacia?" Chiku couldn't help but to chuckle at her unfortunate friend.

"Don't! Talk to me..." Acacia replied with a bitter growl and kept staring up at the sky with clenched teeth. She had been told by Tanith that she should move around as little as possible, and being stuck on a raft all day without being able to help the others was not exactly something the wounded huntress looked forward too, but she knew better than to question Tanith.

As soon as all the prisoners were on board the raft, the Spotted Ones grabbed long poles and began to stake their way down the river. Etana and Mteremo were huddled up next to Kafeel, avoiding the edges of the raft, just in case.

"I'm sorry, 'Tana..." Mteremo said lowly after a moment of silence. "I didn't mean for us to get caught..."

"It's alright, Mteremo!" Etana said with a wink. "Dad and the others will come for us!"

"But, nobody's allowed to leave the village!"

"Hah, do you really think that will stop Dad? Or aunt Almasi? Or even uncle Fahamu?" Etana chuckled and shook her head. "Nope, I know they'll come for us! For ALL of us!"

"Be quiet, pipsqueak!" Wasaki hissed. That's when the three Boudas noticed how quiet and wary the Spotted Ones seemed, as they staked the raft forward along the stream. Even Chiku and Biton had stopped bickering and were silently and mechanically pushing the raft forward through the water with the poles. Acacia threw angsty looks at the deep, murky water from time to time and Tanith seemed to be keeping her eyes out for something in the water ahead of them. They all seemed nervous, which made Etanas mouth curl into a smug grin.

"You're all afraid of Mokele Mbembe, aren't you?" She said slyly, and the name got the two youngest Spotted Ones to flinch. Acacia snorted in amusement at Chiku and her brothers reaction.

"Where!?" Chiku squeaked and gripped the pole harder as the color seemed to drain from her face.

"No, we're not afraid of some fairy tale!" Wasaki snorted and kept staking the raft.

"Nah, I wouldn't think so. Besides, the Mokele Mbembe only comes out at nights." Etana said and nodded. "The Kongamato is A LOT scarier! He's out both day AND night, flying over the jungle and prowls for prey!"

Now it was Bitons turn to get frightened. "T-the what?"

"The Kongamato!" Etana answered as-a-matter-of-factly. "Just a big flying lizard-creature with bat wings and a razorsharp beak with fangs who happens to love Bouda-meat! I bet it haven't tasted any Spotted Ones for ages!"

"C-can't you just shut up?" Chiku gulped and yelped when the pole got stuck for a couple of seconds in the muddy bottom.

"Why? I'm just giving you all a heads-up on what you might find here in the jungle if you aren't careful enough!" Etana said innocently and pouted grumpily. Kafeel had a hard time trying to keep the laughter back.

"Hey, Etana, maybe we should tell them about Tokolosh? Since they're sleeping on the ground and all..." Mteremo chipped in and nodded seriously.

Etana snapped her fingers. "Gosh, you're right, Mteremo!" She turned back to the two young Spotted Ones, who seemed to be the ones who were most scared of the stories. "If I were you guys I wouldn't be sleeping on the ground, the Tokolosh might come and eat you! Or give you some kind of disease, which you DON'T want, I can assure you! He's a nasty little bastard! Did you know that Ajali, a pack leader, has seen him?! He was trying to eat her mate once when he fell asleep on the floor after a celebration, and she just kicked the Tokolosh and he was gone! And Ajali told us he was really ugly, almost like you, Biton!"

"Tanith!" Chiku yelped while her brother suspiciously looked around the river after any sign of monsters. "Can't you tell them to shut up?!"

Tanith sighed and turned around to the back, where the two young hunters were staking. "Can't you two stop paying them any attention?! You two are embarrassing sometimes!"

Mteremo chuckled smugly. "Want any advice on how to avoid getting attacked by the Tokolosh? Stay awake! Or sleep a couple of inches from the ground, although staying awake is what I would've done!"

"That's it! I vote for throwing the cubs to the crocodiles!" Wasaki said without turning his head away from the river. Chiku and Biton nodded in agreement and held up their hands.

Their leader shook her head. "We're not tossing, ANYONE to the crocodiles! Just keep paddling so we can get out of here soon!"

"Awwe!" Acacia said in disappointment and hung her head.

Tanith growled and narrowed her eyes at the two cubs. "And you two keep quiet, or I might change my mind!"

The two cubs waited until the four Spotted Ones were busy with staking the raft again, until Mteremo turned to Etana. "By the way, Etana, shouldn't we be pretty close to the Ghabalis nest soon?"

"Yup! Let's just hope they're not hungry!"

"SHUT UP!" Chiku and Biton said in unison and began paddling faster, almost making the rafts front raise.

While Wasaki and Tanith had a raging fit at the two younger hunters, and Acacia was lying down on her back just enjoying the drama, nobody noticed the shadow, quickly zapping between the trees on the shore of the river; Mwindaji had found his kids, and now he wasn't going to let them out of his sight for a second.

…

Meanwhile, not too far away from the seashore, was a gang gathered. A shaggy group of rugged men, among them a weasel, a one-eyed rat with an eye-patc, a young, chubby squirrel, a strange looking critter with large, round, amber-yellow eyes called an aye-aye, or Shadowfolk, and a long, golden brown snake with a thin, whipping tail; an inland taipan. One of the taipan snakes fangs were crooked, and jutted out from the side of his mouth. Judging from their clothes, they were either sailors or pirates, a lot was hinting at the latter. Behind them was about a dozen spotted hyenas, or the Spotted Ones as they were calling themselves, watching over at least thirty captives tied together with long ropes, about to be taken across the sea and sold as slaves.

The pirates leader was sitting by himself underneath the shadow of a tree, staring blankly ahead of him. He was a medium height, thin red fox, dressed in a blue coat and sand brown, ankle high pants. A single golden ring clanged softly in his right ear. Suddenly the taipan raised his head up from the ground and frowned at the fox before slithering up to him.

"Oy, cap'n!" The long, thin snake said, attracting the captains attention. "When are we heading out? Me n' th'men are getting restless, y'know, n' th'tide's a-comin'" The taipain nodded at the slaves. "I reckon we've got enough o'these rippers already, so why don't we set sail, eh mate?"

"We're still waitin' for Tanith an' her pack..." The fox captain answered in a low tone, patient tone.

"But cap'n...!" The taipan began to protest, but a sharp, cold look from the fox' flashing, yellow eyes was enough to get the long, deadly snake to shut up and nod mutely before slithering back to the sunny spot where he had rested before.

The fox captain glanced at the jungle behind him with a raised eyebrow. _An' she better be comin' right now, or I'll make sure that she in the future remembers to be punctual..._

…

After a couple of hours, the Spotted Ones drove the raft onto a beach on the opposite side, or what was left of the raft, as a vine had snapped, causing the rest of the makeshift floating device to starting to fall apart. Chiku and Biton had gotten blisters on their paws, but was miraculously not complaining about it. Instead they had started bickering amongst themselves about who had been paddling the most and least. Tanith, Acacia and Wasaki was trying to ignore the siblings the best they could.

The prisoners were being led of the raft and back into the jungle, being told that they were going to walk the rest of the way. It was hard for the the ones with their hands tied behind their backs to walk, and many were tripping on the roots and rocks sticking up through the ground.

"Are we there yet?" Etana whined at least once every fifth minute, mostly to annoy the crap out of the Spotted Ones, and to make as much noise as possibly to raise their chances of getting found by the other Brown Ones.

"I'm really starting to get sick of those kids... WHY did we bring them along in the first place?" Wasaki muttered grumpily to Tanith, who shrugged in return. "I'm starting to hate those two just as much as I'm hating the Strangers..." He added with an even lower mutter.

Mteremo blinked in confusion at Biton, who was walking right behind him. "Who're these 'Strangers' you keep talking about?" The cub asked.

"We're not sure ourselves..." Biton answered with a shrug of his head. "All we know is that one day many years ago, they came to our villages from the sea and...!"

"Biton!" Wasaki growled sternly. "Shut up!"

"Why, Wasaki?" Biton answered with a frown.

"Because I'm getting really tired of all the talking from those two brats, and you're just encouraging them to go on!"

"But, what's the harm in telling them about the Strangers? It's not like they can tattle about it to anyone else?" Chiku said, aiding her brother.

"But it's annoying, so just shut up!" Was Wasakis hissing response.

"Gee, Wasaki! Since when have you been such a sourpuss?" Chiku mumbled. "I know you've always been the grumpy one, but really?" Wasaki didn't respond.

Biton rolled his eyes and decided to ignore the two cubs, who were looking at him with curious faces meanwhile they tried their best to not trip over something on the ground. "Why are you guys doing this anyway?" Etana asked with a snort.

"Because the Strangers told us to" Chiku said and sounded suddenly very sad as she turned her head to look at the cubs walking in the back. "Or else they would've wiped us out! They've got these really dangerous weapons, a LOT more deadly than a dart and it makes a sound like thunder or something!" She shuddered and turned her attention back to the path in front of them. "We really don't wanna roam around the jungles, looking for prisoners, but we haven't got much of a choice..."

"Chiku!" Wasaki growled and was about to yell at the young huntress to be quiet when Tanith gave him an angry glare, silently telling him to shut up himself.

"Chiku is right. We tried to fight them, but their weapons are too powerful..." Tanith admitted with a low growl. "For every one of them that fell, ten of us fell in return. Our Queen had no other choice but to surrender, and now, we're like their little servants..." Her nose was scrunched up in a snarl. "They're telling us what to do, or else they will swipe our entire existence off the world. We and two other packs were sent out to capture slaves they could bring back to their homeland...!"

"Slaves?!" Etana and Mteremo burst out, interrupting the leader. Kafeels eyes widened in fear as he glanced at the two cubs behind him. Mteremo came to a complete halt, thus stopping the entire caravan he was linked to.

"N-no!" He said as his legs began to tremble and tried to take a step back. "I-I wanna go home! I-I wanna see my dad again!"

Etana staggered back when her brother yanked the rope that linked their necks. "Mteremo, don't freak out!" She mumbled through clenched teeth and looked worriedly at her brother from the corner of her eye.

But either he couldn't hear her, or he wasn't listening, in any case he began to sob and shook his head so the overdimensioned ears flapped to the sides. "T-this is all my fault! I-I'm sorry, 'Tana, you were right! We should NEVER have left! I wanna go back! I wanna go back to daddy! DAD! DAAAD!" He stopped shouting when he got a hard shove in the back.

"Just move it, kiddo! We're sorry, alright? But it's not like we could just leave you guys here now!" Biton sighed, shook his head and gave Mteremo another push. "First of all; you know too much. Second, you'd end up as someones snack before the end of the day!"

"N-no!" Mteremo sobbed, his big ears were drooping in fear. "I-I wanna go home!"

"You should've thought of that BEFORE you decided to sneak around and spy on us, kiddo!"

Mteremo still refused to keep walking. He was scared now, scared for real! Etana gulped, she knew what Mteremo was like whenever he got scared. His mind would go all blank and react on instinct, not able to think correctly. She got her fears confirmed when he began to trash around, yanking the ropes.

"I WANNA GO HOME!" Mteremo screamed and tried to pull the rope around his neck over his head. "I DON'T WANNA BE A SLAVE! I WANNA GO HOME! I WANNA...!"

_CLATSCH!_

The loud, sudden crackling sound of a whip made everyone jump in surprise and the silence that fell was even more deafening than Mteremos freaked out screams. The thin, golden brown snake glared at the group with his round, dark brown eyes. He had used his long, whipping tail as a whip and swung it in the air to put an end to the ruckus.

Next to the snake stood one of the Shadowfolk, his presence made the captives feel even more uneasy and some began to shiver. The Shadowman had short, straight hair and the big, fluffy tail swished angrily as he looked at the Spotted Ones leader with narrowed eyes.

"You're late, Tanith..." Said the Shadowman in very flat Bouda. "The captain hates when you people are late, y'know..."

"We're sorry, Haron" Tanith answered dryly and tilted her head upward. "But you should try to navigate these jungles with a wounded hunter, it takes much longer time than you'd think!"

Haron, the Shadowman, waved his hand unenthusiastically at the Spotted One, a gesture for her to be quiet. "Spare us your excuses, Tanith! The tide is almost here, and you know we have to leave when it arrives! Unless the storm picks up, then we'll be forced to stay here another night!"

Etana, Kafeel and Mteremo were staring wide-eyed at the Shadowman. The Shadowfolk, or aye-ayes, were warlocks and night-worshipers from an island far to the east. They were said to bring death and misfortune to everyone they came across. But they hardly ever left their island, even less mingled with other critters, so what was this 'Haron' doing with these Strangers in the Brown Ones jungles?

Suddenly the snake lowered down to Harons height and asked him something in some strange, unrecognizable language. Haron raised a meaning eyebrow at the two cubs and translated the question to the Spotted Ones; "Why do you have two children with you?"

"They were spying on us, apparently they sneaked away from their village because the boy wanted to see what we were like" Wasaki replied with a solemn voice. "We had no choice but to bring them along. We thought maybe you'd have some use for them"

"We've got use for them alright, children usually don't give a lot on the market, but at least it's something!" The Shadowman said with a shrug while the snake frowned disapprovingly and slowly shook his head from side to side, but he didn't say anything. Neither did any of the Spotted Ones.

They walked the last of the path, leading to the seashore. The chilly, salty breeze from the sea hit Mteremo and Etana in the face as they arrived, and dark clouds were forming on the sky. It was going to rain, probably even turn into a storm.

"'Tana..." Mteremo sobbed and walked as close as he could to his sister when he saw the giant boat further away on the open sea. "I-I'm sorry, 'Tana..."

"It's alright, Mteremo..." Etana said and tried to smile reassuringly, but it turned out as a nervous, lopsided grin. "Dad will come and save us!"

"But what if he doesn't? What if he's too late?" Mteremos lip began to tremble, making his scared voice even more unsteady.

Etana hesitated. If her wrists hadn't been bound together, she would have thrown her arms around her brother. "Well, at least we've still got each other..." She answered quietly after a while.

…

"Finally!" Captain Tip, the red fox, said and stood up when he saw the missing hunting pack come trotting after Buck and Haron. It was already too late, however. The storm was blowing up, sending cold winds that bit through the fabric of their clothing and chilled their bodies to the core, and before they had gotten the slaves on the ship, it would have the time to become even worse. They were forced to wait another night on the beach.

Tanith and her pack members, one which seemed injured and was limping around, leaning on a spear, felt the cold winds strength intensify and the younger male began to rub his palms against each other. A pack leader from one of the other packs got up and walked up to Tanith, greeting her friend and daughter back.

"Tanith! Why're are you so late? And what happened to Acacia?" The Spotted One with a huge hack in her left ear said with a nod at the wounded huntress.

"Just a hunting accident, mother." Acacia said and averted her eyes. "Nothing serious..."

"That's why we're late, Kisha. Acacia has been slowing us down, nothing bad meant" Tanith said, and hurried to add the last. Acacia mumbled something incoherent in response. Kisha nodded and grabbed her daughters hand.

"Let's have a closer look at that, Aci! It looks kinda bad!"

"No, mom! I said I'm fine!" Acacia protested and felt her cheeks burn red when Chiku and Biton began to snicker behind her back. She tried to pull her hand free, but the sudden, stabbing pain flared out in her ribs again and got her to gasp and stagger.

"Oh really? I don't think so, missy! Now, come here!" Her mother frowned sternly and managed to get her daughter to follow her to the others, where they would take a closer look at the damage. Biton and Chiku tried to keep the gloating laughter away, but still couldn't help but to giggle at Acacias embarrassment.

"Tanith!" Captain Tip barked as he walked towards the newly arrived pack with steady, confident strides. "You're late!"

"And you're the third one to tell me that, Tip!" Was Taniths sharp reply.

Captain Tips Bouda was a lot better than Harons, Mteremo noted and watched the red fox with mixed horror and amazement. How come both him and the Shadowman could speak Bouda?

Tip stopped in front of the slightly taller Bouda female and frowned. "It's Captain Tip for you!" Tanith didn't reply, she just angrily narrowed her eyes at the fox and growled silently. Tip ignored her and went to inspect the captives. "Five lizards, three brown hyenas, where two are cubs, one sand cat, one fennec, two meerkats and two striped weasels?" He paused and snickered at Tanith. "You've really been everywhere, haven't you?"

"We've taken everyone we came across. Most of them are travelers" The leader answered and folded her arms across her chest.

Tip didn't answer, instead he turned his attention to the two cubs and kneeled down. "How old are these two?" He asked Tanith without looking away from the cubs. Etana snarled at him while Mteremo was frozen and shuddered with fear.

"We're guessing that the boy is around seven years old, and the girl somewhere about nine-ten"

Once again, Tip didn't answer. Instead he got up and looked at Kafeel. "Are you related to them?" He asked, Kafeel hurried to shake his head.

"N-not really, more like a friend to the family; I-I'm a member of their aunts pack, that's all" He answered with a low voice and averted his eyes from the fox captain.

Another breeze swept over the beach and caused everyone to shiver in the cold. Tip was the only one who didn't budge, only his blue coat was moving in the wind. "We're going to have to wait another night, this storm should be over by the morning." He said and turned around and began walking back to his crew. "Chain them up with the others and get them sheltered from the wind! I don't want any of them to get sick now!" He ordered with his back to the Boudas.

Wasaki looked tempted to stab his knife into the red fox' back, but Tanith threw her pack member a harsh look before signing to the others to bring their captured slaves to the rest, where the ropes where replaced by heavy chains and shackles. Chiku looked at Kafeel with her head slightly tilted to the side and sighed sadly.

"Too bad!" She said and shook her head sadly. "I actually meant it when I said you were cute, for a Brown One!" And with that she left to reunite with the other Spotted Ones.

Kafeel tried to hold back a sob and looked down at the shackles around his wrists. "I-if only I got to see Gasira, one last time..." He bit his lip to stop it from trembling. "I-I wish I could just tell her, how much she really means to me!" He was whispering to himself and buried his face in his palms. "I'm sorry, Gasira!"

"Ey, don't start with that!" Lutalo said and threw a determined glance at the Spotted Ones. "It isn't over yet! I saw someone in the jungles today, someone who was stalking us..." He averted his eyes to the three Brown Ones and leaned closer. "I think our mysterious follower could be our last chance to freedom!" He whispered, making sure that nobody else than them heard.

"What did he look like?" Etana hurried to ask, a small glimpse of hope lit up in her eyes.

"I dunno, I couldn't see him, he was too fast..." Lutalo shook his head slowly. "But I think he might've been a Bouda, just like you. Although, now when I think about it, it kinda looked like he had spots all over him, and a funny little string of hair hanging down from the side of his head...!"

"Dad?!" Mteremo exclaimed excitedly, instantly met with angry hushes from the others around him.

"Yeah, that sounds like Mwindaji the Hunter alright!" Kafeel nodded, even his eyes were lit up with a hopeful spark.

Etana threw her chained arms around Mteremo. "I TOLD you he'd come for us!" She whispered to him, sounding both relieved and excited.

Mteremo couldn't hug his sister back because of the chains, so he just simply leaned his head against her shoulder and closed his eyes. Their dad was coming to save them all! He just knew it!

**Okay, I have to end this here unfortunately :(, or else it will be one HELLUVA humongous chapter o_O!**

**But dont'cha worry! I've got half of the next chapter already, so it will probably be up even before the next SWG chapter ;)**


	4. Mwindajis mistake

**Alright, HERE comes the chapter where you'll need tissues, ice cream and movies like Bridget Jones' Diary, or something xD! **

**Hehehe, told y'all next chapter would be up really soon ;)!**

**Anyway, I guess y'all know what's going to happen so let's bring forth the tears, shall we?**

***** Chapter Four : Mwindajis Mistake *****

The night fell, the wind was now roaring and rain poured down from the skies. The Spotted Ones had hurried to build two hasty shelters out of young trees and big leaves, one for the slaves and one for themselves, with an opening so they could still keep watch over the slaves. Every now and then, a lightning flash would lit up the beach, shortly followed by a deep rumble across the dark gray sky.

Mteremo huddled closer to Etana when a new flash split the darkness. Their father was out there somewhere, probably thinking out a plan to save them. They were trying to sleep, but the thunder would always wake them up, so eventually they gave up and kept their eyes open for their father instead.

Two Spotted Ones were in the slaves shelter, keeping a small fire alive, one which was Biton, the other one was someone from the other hunting packs. But Biton and the other hunter, who looked like to be about the same age, seemed to know each other well and was talking and laughing together.

There were two more Boudas in the group of captured slaves; one Striped One male, Jaramogi, and another Brown One female, Adila. Adila was from a smaller village further up the river, where she was the youngest of the medicine mans daughters. After chatting for a while, Kafeel remembered meeting Adilas oldest sisters hunting pack in the jungle, when he was out with his own pack. A chimp had gotten stuck in a trap, but the two hunting packs couldn't figure out whose trap it was, so the chimp managed to escape while they were discussing. Almasi had first gotten angry at the other pack leader, but then they had both managed to laugh about it and they were separated as friends, despite the unfortunate hunt.

The night continued on, the storm kept roaring on the outside and the cold made the hungry rumbles from Mteremo and Etanas stomachs intensify. They barely had anything to eat all day, and the cold wind didn't exactly improve the matter. But somehow, the two cubs managed to fall asleep eventually.

…

When the morning came, the storm had eased down, only a soft breeze were blowing. The longboats, which had been dragged up on the beach and turned upside-down to not get swept away by the storm, were covered in dew, just like everything else around.

Everyone was asleep, even Biton and the other Spotted One by the dead fire in the slaves shelter was snoring loudly. Biton was still a bit paranoid after the stories the cubs told them, especially the one about the Tokolosh, so he had built a makeshift bed out of branches and leaves, and used rocks to keep it off the ground. Nobody noticed the shadow which swiftly emerged from the jungle and without a sound, the shadowy figure made it's way to the shelters. Looking around for both possible enemies and his children.

The Bouda hunter cautiously tip-toed his way into the slaves shelter and looked around, before he saw the two cubs, huddled together in the middle and sleeping uneasily. He dropped the spear he held in his hands and scurried up to the cubs, careful not to step on anyone on the way. But on his way to his cubs, Etana woke up by the faint sounds of someone kicking up the sand and groggily sat up in an upright position and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Just when she opened her eyes, she saw her father kneeling down by her and Mteremo. His red eyes were bloodshot, and filled with tears of relief. A weary smile formed on his lips when his daughter recognized his face.

"Daddy!" She sobbed and threw herself in her fathers arms, burying her face in his chest and fighting to keep the tears back. Mteremo woke up from the noise and when he saw his father, hugging his sister, he first didn't want to believe what he saw.

"D-dad?" He whispered, Mwindaji heard his sons whisper and look up. "Dad!" Mteremo repeated louder and he too threw himself at his father. Neither he or his sister could reach around him, because of their chained wrists, but that didn't matter; Mwindaji instantly threw his strong arms around both of his cubs and rocked gently while he hugged them close. He too had to fight the tears that were burning behind his tired eyelids. For two nights, he hadn't been sleeping nor eating, constantly on the hunt for his two lost children. And now he had finally found them, just in time too. He had never felt this relieved and overjoyed before.

"I-I'm sorry, dad!" Mteremo sobbed. "I-it's all m-my fault! I-I wanted to s-see the S-Spotted Ones, a-and I made Etana sneak out with me! T-they found us, and... a-and...!"

"And took us to the Strangers, s-so they could sell us as slaves!" Etana continued where her brother trailed off and pulled away from their father, enough so that she could look him in the eyes. "D-dad?" She bit her lip when she saw that his weary face had gotten a dark, solemn look. "Y-you're mad, aren't you?"

Mwindaji shook his head. "No, Etana... I'm not mad..." He said, Etana was about to draw a deep sigh of relief when he continued with a surprisingly stern voice: "I'm furious! Furious, scared and disappointed!" Etana and Mteremo both averted their eyes and bit down hard on their lips, the guilt was obvious on their faces. "Do you two have any IDEA how worried I've been?" He said, his angry voice had gotten a slight tremble to it. "When I woke up and saw that you two weren't there, I-I've NEVER been that scared in my entire life! If anything had happened to you two, I... I!" His voice failed him as his shoulders began to tremble. A storm of emotions had come over him, all from anger, fear and nausea, to relief and happiness. With trembling hands, he placed one palm each on Etana and Mteremos chins and got them to look him in the eyes again. "I just couldn't stand it if I were to lose you guys too! Promise me, both of you, that you'll NEVER do something like this, EVER again! Do you promise?" He asked seriously and tried to keep his shaky voice as steady as possible.

The two cubs nodded and sobbed. "We promise!" They said in unison and the little family was brought together in a hug once again.

"M-Mwindaji? Win, is that you?" Kafeel woke up and rubbed his aching head so the chains rattled softly.

"Kafeel? You're alright?" Mwindaji gave up a surprised chuckle. "Boy, will Gasira be happy to see you!"

"H-how is she?" Kafeels voice was thick with worry, but when Mwindaji gave him a faint, reassuring smile and a short nod, he seemed able to relax.

"She's just fine, except completely heartbroke since the Elders decided to forbid anyone from leaving the village..." Mwindaji said and frowned sadly.

"Yeah, I've heard..." Kafeel nodded at the two cubs. "Your kids told me!"

Mwindaji grinned for a while, but then his face got the stern, serious look again as he looked down at the chains. "We have to get you all out of these things..." He said lowly and picked up the long chain that connected every slave to each other.

Suddenly Etana staggered back and pointed with a stiff finger at something behind her father. "DADDY, BEHIND YOU!" She screamed, probably waking every single slave in the shelter.

Mwindaji barely had time to turn around before a big shadow pounced at him and knocked him to the floor. The heavy Spotted One landed on top of him and snarled threateningly. It was Wasaki, he must've woken up recently, and all the ruckus he caused by attacking Mwindaji woke Biton up as well.

"What the...?" Biton mumbled all groggy and blinked at the two fighting Boudas, rolling around on the sand, biting and clawing at each other. It took a while for him to realize what it was that was going on and when he did he hurried to get on his feet, kicked his still sleeping friend and yelled at him to wake up.

Wasaki and Mwindaji was snarling and biting at each other, until Mwindaji managed to kick the Spotted One in the chest, making his enemy gasp and stagger back, shortly followed by one hard punch in the gut and a knee to the face. Wasakis body was sent backwards, and the heavy Spotted One crashed right through the leaf wall. Mwindaji snapped around just as he saw the two Spotted Ones who had been keeping watch bolt out of the shelter and into the other one, where the rest of the Spotted Ones where staying. The hunter cursed as he dashed to get his spear before returning to where his cubs were.

"D-dad? You're b-bleeding!" Mteremo stuttered and pointed at his father, who took a quick look at himself. He was bleeding from gashes and bite marks all over his body, but that could wait. He needed to free his kids and the rest of the slaves first.

He raised his spear and rammed it right in one of the links. The link broke, thus splitting the chain so the only thing the slaves had to do now was to pull the chain through the loops in their shackles to be free. "Run! Everyone, RUN!" Mwindaji shouted and did a sweeping movement with his entire arm. "Get outta here, RUN!". Even those who didn't speak Bouda didn't need any translating; they all tangled around with the chain and hightailed it into the jungle as fast as their legs could carry. Mwindaji turned around to his kids. "Etana, Mteremo, c'mon!" He said to them, and he didn't need to tell them twice until the three were making a beeline for the jungles.

Kafeel tried to run as well, but he didn't get far; just when he was free from the chains and left the shelter, the rest of the Spotted Ones poured out from their shelter, stopping every slave they could reach. Kafeel were soon knocked face-first into the sand by someone, and when he turned around he came face to face with Chiku.

"Going somewhere are we, cutie?" She snarled, only a few inches away from his face.

"P-please... Y-you have to let me go!" Kafeel stuttered and tried to crawl away from the Spotted female. "Look, I-I've got someone at home... A-and she means everything to me! P-please, you gotta let me go!"

Chikus red eyes flashed as she grabbed Kafeel by the front of his now thrashed and dirty uniform. "No, I don't!" She growled silently.

"I-I beg of you; let me go home!" He was begging her now, and she couldn't stand the look of sadness in his eyes.

"I... I can't..." She said and hardened her grip as she clenched her eyes shut. "I'm sorry, but I CAN'T let you go, cutie! They'll skin me alive and wear my fur for sure!"

"Please, Chiku..."

"SHUT UP!" Chiku shrieked and rammed her fist between Kafeels eyes as hard as she could. He lost consciousness and it wasn't until he was completely silent that she opened her eyes. "S-sorry, cutie..." She whispered, but then a loud gunshot made her yelp and jump in surprise.

…

Mteremo, Etana and Mwindaji were getting closer and closer to the line of pale grass that separated the beach and the jungle. Mwindaji couldn't run as fast as he could, as he had to keep up with his children, but to his relief, the three seemed to be able to make it to the jungle safely, as there were no one following them.

But suddenly a loud, sudden bang was heard and Mteremos large, pointy ears went back in pain at the sudden sound, but then he heard an ever worse sound as his father suddenly disappeared from his side; Mwindaji screaming in pain. Both Mteremo and Etana came to a screeching halt, causing sand to spray from their feet.

"DAD?!" They both shouted in unison in fear; their father was all curled up on the ground with his hands clutched around his leg, his teeth clenched shut and the sand underneath him was slowly turning red from the blood that was gushing out from his leg.

He struggled to lift his head and looked at his cubs, the massive pain was reflected his the round, crimson colored eyes. "R-run..." He hissed through his teeth.

"B-but, dad! Y-you...!" Etana took a step towards her father, but was met by a warning growl from him.

"I said RUN!" He barked and bared his fangs. "Can't you two do what I tell you for ONCE in your lives?! PISS OFF ALREADY!" Etana and Mteremo took a couple of uncertain steps back. "What's your problem, for the love of the Great Mother, JUST GET OUT OF HERE! GET LOST! FUCK OFF! VAMOOSE! SKEDADDLE!" But no matter how much their father screamed and roared at them, they just couldn't move their legs. They were traumatized, their legs felt glued to the ground. Etana was the first one to snap out of their horrified, trance-like state and she tugged at Mteremos arm.

"M-Mteremo, c'mon!" She winced and tried to pull him with her into the safety of the jungle. Mteremo staggered a few steps after her, but then turned back to their wounded father.

"D-dad...?" He sobbed when he saw the pain he was in.

"It's okay, Mteremo..." Mwindaji stopped shouting at them and tried to pull off a faint smile. "Go! I-I'll catch up to you, I promise!" Mteremo tried to hold back the tears as his sister did another try to pull him with her, and this time she succeeded. The two cubs had just gotten running again when they heard their father scream once again. "NO! NO! DON'T YOU DARE...! LEAVE THEM ALONE!"

But the cubs never got to stop and turn around to see what it was, before the long, golden brown snake slithered in front of them, fast as lightning, and blocked their path. The cubs stopped and gasped in fear at the snake who suddenly appeared and lowered his head to their level. A fang was jutting out from one of the sides of his mouth, giving him a unique, and pretty scary, look.

"Goin' somewhere, mate?" He said, but in their ears it sounded just like gibberish.

"NO! G-GET AWAY FROM THEM, SNAKE!" Mwindaji tried to get up, but his knee was in too much pain, and it forced him to remain on the ground. Suddenly three Spotted Ones ran up to him and two of them forced him up on his knees. The third one was the big male he had fought before, and he wiped some blood off his nose, before grinning evilly and kicked Mwindaji in the wounded knee. Hard.

Mwindaji gasped and screamed as more blood splatted on the ground from his knee, and the pain made him see a lot of tiny black spots dance in front of his eyes. Wasaki lifted his foot to kick again when another one of the deafening _bangs_ were heard. Wasaki instantly put his foot down and backed away from the half-spotted as Captain Tip came walking towards them, in his hand he held a revolver, a funny looking club-like weapon with smoke coming out from the long metal pipe. Mwindaji instantly realized that it was that weapon that had injured him, and was the source of the bangs.

"Now, what the devil and his men is goin' on here?" Tip growled before cocking his head at the mysterious and odd-looking hyena. The two men were glaring into each others eyes, silently measuring the other and judging. "And you are?" Tip asked after a while in Bouda. Mwindaji didn't answer.

"Answer him, half-breed!" Wasaki snarled and gripped the dangling pendant. "Or I'm yanking this stupid thing off!"

Mwindaji frowned at Wasaki, yanked the string of hair out of his grip and turned his head back to Tip, his eyes gleaming with hate and spite. "My name is Mwindaji, son of Zuwena the Spotted" He answered, his voice flat without any hint of emotion.

"I knew it!" Wasaki snarled and pulled the dagger out from his belt. "You ARE one of her half-blood, bastard children, aren't you?!"

"Do I know you?" Mwindaji snorted nonchalantly at the Spotted male and arched an eyebrow.

"No, but I knew what your mother was, an insane old witch, whom we should have put out of her misery before she caused such dishonor to both her own and MINE family!"

Mwindajis nose scrunched up as he bared his fangs at Wasaki. At first, he looked like he was about to lunge at the other Bouda, even if he was being held back by two other hunters, but then his face cracked up in a grin. "Oh, I get it, you're another one of that Aailyahs offsprings, aren't you?" Wasakis pupils thinned into slits when his mothers name was mentioned. "Well, I DO feel sorry for you, friend. We can't all have awesome mothers like mine" He shrugged, making the Spotted Ones face turn bright red. "She must've dropped you quite a few times, eh? Or maybe she was more the 'throw at a wall' sort of mother, wasn't she?"

"I'll KILL you!" Wasaki roared and was about to pounce at Mwindaji and bury his knife in the half-Spotteds chest, but he was held back by three other hunters, who rushed forward to interject between the two Boudas.

"And you've got her impeccable sense of self-control, I see..." Mwindaji continued with a cocky smirk. "And combined with the sadistic nature you both seem to share, you certainly have gotten ALL of her best sides, haven't you?"

"That's enough!" Tip snarled and took a couple of steps closer to the wounded Bouda. "What are you doing here, Mwindaji wasn't it?"

Mwindajis grin disappeared instantly and was replaced by the same serious, hateful look as before. "I came to get my children back" He answered solemnly.

"Your children, huh?" Tips eyes wandered to the two cubs, who were being held back by Buck, the inland taipan.

"Yup, MY children. The ones your little servants stole from me!"

"Actually..." Biton said, as he was one of them who held Mwindaji back. "I found them spying on us. If you didn't want them to get into this trouble, you've should've kept a closer look on them, buddy! They were out in the middle of the night, you know!"

The look Mwindaji threw at Biton sent cold chills down the young hunters spine. "So, YOU are the one who took them?" He snarled, baring all his white, sharp fangs.

"And if you don't want anything to happen to your children, I suggest you keep your fangs to yourself there and answer these questions I've got..." Tip warned the Bouda, who instantly snapped his head to the fox captain.

"Don't you dare to hurt them!" Mwindaji growled with a scared tone hinted in his voice. "Don't you DARE to even as much as lay a finger on either of them!"

"Oh I won't, unless you screw up. Now..." Tip crossed his arms. "Are there more of you people here?"

Mwindaji was about to come with a sarcastic reply, but then he saw the strange weapon in the fox' hands and quickly changed his mind. "No. I came here alone..." He said bitterly and shook his head. "Besides, if there were more from our village here, you would definitely have noticed!" Oops, there came a more serious version of his previously intended comment anyway!

The fox didn't seem to mind as he furrowed his brows and nodded slowly, the gold ring in his ear gave off soft, metallic clangs. "Why would you go alone?"

"I... I wasn't thinking..." Mwindaji closed his eyes shut and hung his head. "I just wanted to save my cubs... Please, let them go" He gritted his teeth in shame over having to plead to the enemy. "T-they mean the world to me, please... Just let them go!"

"In a moment, are there more from your village coming after you, you think?"

Mwindaji opened his mouth to answer truthfully, but then quickly closed his mouth again and hesitated. He looked up at the red fox again, his eyes burning with hate once again. "No. They're all to scared to leave the village, now when these Spotted Ones are here..."

The Spotted Ones that weren't out in the jungle and retrieved slaves, all exchanged glances. Really? The only one who didn't seem the least bit fazed was Captain Tip. Instead, he narrowed his eyes skeptically at the wounded Bouda in front of him. "You're lying?"

Mwindaji tried his best to hide the shock he felt. "W-what? No, I'm not!"

"You were hesitating?"

"I'm not a liar!"

"No, a liar would mask his lies better. I've seen enough liars in my life to recognize them all, and you my friend, is a very poor liar who's not gotten used to the art yet..." Tips mouth was curled up in a faint, confident smile. "You were telling me the truth before, weren't you? Why be so dumb and lie now?

"Alright, alright! They said they were going to send out two hunters to search for my cubs the first thing in the morning, and now when I'm gone too they're probably going to send more!"

"Much better!"

"Can you let my kids go now?"

Wasaki let out a frustrated groan. "MAN, you're nagging about those brats!" Mwindaji ignored the Spotted hunter.

"I'm afraid no" Tip answered flatly, causing Mwindaji to snarl in anger.

"Let. Them. Go!"

"I can't do that, unfortunately" Tip shrugged and checked his gun. He had a couple of bullets left, that's good! He'd probably only need one anyway... "You see, we have to leave later today, and the entire day will probably be used to track down all those slaves you freed. And we'll be lucky if we manage to retrieve half of them!" The fox captain sadly shook his head. "Unfortunately, I'll be needing your kids more now than before. IF they survive the trip, I think they might be worth a least a couple of hundreds each on the market. 6-700, perhaps? Maybe even a thousand for the boy..."

Mwindaji felt the cold claws of fear grip his heart as he let the words sink in. "No..." He shook his head violently. "NO! You're NOT taking my children!" He shouted and tried once again to get up, but Biton and the other Spotted hunter forced him back down, sending new jolts of pain into his knee. He winced, and through he haze of pain he managed to bare his fangs at the fox. "N-NO! I won't let you!"

"It's not up to you to decide anymore, Mwindaji. It's nothing personal though, I would gladly let you tag along... but..." Tip grimaced and nodded at his bleeding leg. "I don't like the look of that leg. I didn't mean to shoot you in the kneecap, I was hoping to just maybe bruising the shin to get you to slow down, but... Oh well, even if the knee were too heal up, I bet you'd just have to skip around on crutches for the rest of your life anyway. Practically useless." He raised his revolver at the hunter, who didn't have to ponder for long to realize what the pirate was going to do to him.

The hate in his eyes turned into fear and he stared at the captain with his eyes widened and shoulders trembling. "N-no... M-my cubs... T-they need me, a-and I need them! J-just let us go!" He had never in his wildest imagination ever even considered that he was one day going to have to beg for his life in front of his enemies. Deep inside, it made him feel ashamed, and weak. But right now, he was too afraid to give it any further concern. Fear made his heart race once again. Not fear for his life, however, but for his cubs, and what would happen to them. "Please, at least let my cubs go! I don't care what you do to me, but PLEASE! Just let Etana and Mteremo go! T-they're just kids!"

"I've told you, Mwindaji. I can't do that, not without losing a whole bunch of money!"

The sight of the gun aimed directly between his eyes made the hunter press the round ears flat against his neck. He knew that pleading wouldn't get him far, but it was the only thing he could do. "Please, I'll do anything! ANYTHING! D-don't take my kids! Let them go back home!" Tears began to flood the hunters eyes as he hung his head in shame. "Please!"

"And you're calling yourself a man?" Wasaki snorted when he noticed the tears that began to run down along Mwindajis long snout. "Pathetic!"

"Keep your mouth shut, Wasaki!" Tip snarled at the Spotted hunter and clicked the hammer back.

Mteremo and Etana couldn't take their eyes off the snake, who in turn kept staring at them and occasionally talking to them, even if they couldn't understand a syllable of his language. Suddenly Mteremo noticed in the corner of his eye something shiny being pointed at his father. He turned his head and saw the shiny and odd, yet lethal weapon being pointed directly at Mwindajis head, and he froze up in fear. "D-dad?" He turned around completely and began sprinting towards his father. "DAD?!"

Etana and Buck noticed that Mteremo bolted off and they both gasped at the hunter being threatened. "DAD! NO!" Etana shrieked and ran after her brother, Buck didn't stop either of them.

Mteremo was almost there when Mwindaji noticed his son come running. "No! Mteremo, stay ba...!" He didn't get any further than that until a third, deafening shot went off. The muzzle of the revolver blazed for a millisecond, and then there were smoke slowly slithering it's way up at the sky. Mteremo stopped dead in his tracks as something warm splattered on his face and arms, and he couldn't stop staring at his dad. Just as the gun went off, Mwindajis entire body jerked and he went completely still and silent for a moment, before slowly falling to the side. Lifeless.

"DAAAD!" Etanas high pitched scream sounded distant to Mteremo as the world stopped revolving around him. In a blurr, his sister passed him and threw herself on the limp body of their father, screaming and crying her lungs out. All he could hear was the bang, still going off somewhere in the distant.

Whatever splattered on Mteremo was still warm and he slowly lifted a shaking arm to wipe some of it off his face. When he looked down at his hand, he felt his heart skip a beat. It was blood, his fathers blood, and he was covered in it. A pool of blood was forming underneath his fathers dead body, and he saw Etanas hands get red with the sticky liquid as she tried everything to wake him up from the eternal sleep. She was screaming at him and hitting him in the face, until she just gave up, threw her arms around his neck and cried into his fur. Mteremo couldn't move, all he could do was to stare in shock at the scene with the tears running down his cheeks.

Blood. There was blood everywhere! His fathers blood...

He must have fainted, because the last thing he remembered before the world around him went black, was a long, thin scaly tail was being wrapped around his tiny frame and a random Spotted female tried to pry Etana away from Mwindaji, but she ended up getting attacked by the cub instead. She cried out loud while Etana was scratching the hunter in her face, growling like some feral beast.

They had to be three to get the enraged hyena cub away from Kizzi, before she clawed the hunters eyes out! Buck sighed and held the unconscious boy in his coils. "Woah, sometimes ya get to see some real drama, eh cap'n?" The Australian snake chuckled lowly. "I mean, what does 'baba' even mean?"

"It means father..." Tip said solemnly and holstered his gun again. "These two are apparently his children." He nodded at the cub in Bucks coils. "He called that one Mteremo"

Buck stared at the dead half-breed hyena, lying sprawled on his side. The eyes were still open slightly, and he looked so much alike a Spotted One it was kind of creeping the long, thin snake out. "Crikey! Their... father?" He said and grimaced. "You could have warned me first, an' I woulda taken the kids away from'ere!"

"Whatever... Git those two chained back with the others" Tip shook his shoulders and brushed off some blood that stained on the arm of his pale blue coat. "We'll have to leave now if we hope to find any of 'em slaves b'fore it's tide again! I ain't plannin' on staying another night 'ere on this bloody, god forsaken land, y'know!"

"Aye cap'n!" Buck nodded and left with both of the cubs in his coils. The little girl had stopped attacking everyone around her, and was now instead crying with her face buried in her soiled hands. Repeating the same word over and over again, which in Bucks ears sounded like;

"Baba... baba... baba... baba..."

…

Biton and Chiku was given the task to carry the dead half-Spotted down to the river and throw him away. Chiku was very skeptical to the idea.

"I dunno, Biton... We SHOULD burn him! I really don't want him to haunt us, and he WAS a hunter after all! I mean, that's the least we can do for a brave fighter like him, dont'cha think?"

Biton shook his head. "No, the smoke could be spotted by the other hunters from his village, and then we'll be in BIG trouble! It's better to just get rid of him right now!"

"But..." Chiku glanced down at Mwindajis lifeless body. The blood has stopped seeping out through the holes in his head, but he was still partially covered in it, and the half-opened eyes glared accusingly at her. "All he wanted was to have his cubs back, y'know..." Chiku clenched her jaw shut and averted her eyes to keep herself from staring into the blank, dead eyes. "And sure, those two WAS a real pain in the neck, but they didn't deserve to see their father get executed right in front of them! And that little girl..." The memory of Etana trying to scratch Kizzis eyes out were replaying in Chikus mind, and causing her to involuntarily shudder. "That little girl really tried to kill Kizzi, didn't she? Oh man, I hope for her own sake that she wont make the trip to the Strangers land! Or just imagine what she might grow up into?" Biton didn't answer his sister, but she had a point there. Something like this could really mess with a kids mind, and the little girl was proved to be especially sensitive, considering how she took her fathers death!

"What do you think will happen to the boy, then?" Biton asked and stepped over a root, barely avoiding tripping backwards over it.

"This sounds really awful, I know, but I-I kinda hope he dies too..." Chiku bit her lip and glanced back at the dead half-breed. "Poor cubs..." Once again, Biton didn't reply.

They made it to the nearest riverbend, where the water were flowing faster, and Biton threw one last questioning look at his sister as they put the body down on the ground to rest up for a bit. "Are you okay, Chiku?" Biton asked and tilted his head slightly to the side. "You look a bit pale?"

"I... I just don't feel good..." Chiku answered and shook her head from side to side. "C-captain Tip just killed this guy, when he knew that his cubs were right behind him..." Her voice was low, her eyes were getting wet with tears. "Damn it... I can't believe I'm crying for the sake of a family of Brown Ones! No, he's not even that; he's a half-breed! Just like his children!"

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone!"

"T-thanks, bro..." Chiku smiled thankfully at her brother. Sure, Biton could be a real pain in the ass at times, Chiku and him were notorious for being able to start a fight over every petty little thing they could come up with. Yet, the bond a brother and sister shared was strong, and Chiku and Biton were no exceptions on that matter. Biton smiled back and put a hand on his sisters arm.

Chiku averted her eyes to the dead Bouda they had been assigned to just throw away into the river. The long strand of hair that hung from his right temple was now lying across his face, right under his half-opened eyes. She slowly bent down to close them and picked up the hair-pendant between her thumb and index finger.

"Chiku?" Biton frowned when his sister drew her knife and cut off the grayish brown strand of hair, and tinkered with the pearls to connect the pendant into a circle, making it resemble a bracelet.

Chiku didn't answer her brother as she hid the ring of hair in her clothes and nodded at the hunter. "C'mon, let's get rid off this poor bastard now and get it over with, okay?"

Biton nodded and the two siblings once again picked the deceased hunter up, walk over to the edge of the river, which was a few meters over the waters surface, and with combined powers they threw the body into the river. They both watched mutely as the limp body hit the water and disappeared underneath the surface for a few seconds, before it resurfaced further down. Soon, they could only hint the red garment the hunter was wearing as the river embraced him and carried him away.

Neither of the Spotted Ones said anything for a while, until Chiku softy closed her eyes and hung her head slightly. "Great Mother, you who gave birth to the world and all who inhabits it, please help this hunter. His spirit is still trapped here, and unless someone recovers him and burns him, his spirit will keep wander; unable to find peace. I don't think he deserves that fate, since he was such a brave man. I mean, he went all alone against both slavetraders and three hunting packs to save his two cubs! So that's what I ask of you now; save him. Help his spirit to find his way to your home and welcome him. The same with his children, if they were to die during their long trip." She glanced up at Her, burning bright on the clear, blue sky like a fireball. She didn't get any response from Her, but then again, she wasn't a medicine woman, and couldn't get in contact with the Great Mother like they could, but it never hurt to talk to her.

"C'mon, Chiku..." Biton said, his sudden hand on her shoulder made her jump up in the air and spin around. "We better go back now!" Chiku didn't reply, she just averted her eyes again and nodded slowly before following her brother on the path back to the beach.

…

Mteremo jolted awake and looked around the trashed shelter. Slaves were being dragged back from the jungle, and the ones who never made it away in time in the first place were chained up like before. Kafeel was one of them, and his left eye was covered by a big black-eye. Even Adila and Jaramogi had been found and taken back. It's said that Striped Ones are silent, shy and gets nervous for just about everything, well, Jaramogi more or less killed that rumor as he was kicking and biting, trying to get free again, as well as throwing colorful and intricate insults around.

"E-Etana?" Mteremo whispered hoarsely when he spotted his sister, lying on her side in fetal position a few steps away. She didn't react to her name, so he began to slowly crawl towards her with the chains rattling around his wrists. "Etana?" He repeated, slightly louder and poked her shoulder.

This time she twitched and slowly turned her head around. When she saw her brother, her eyes widened slightly and she got up in a sitting position, still not speaking. Her hands and parts of her face was covered in blood and dirt, and the wisp of hair on her head looked tattered.

"Etana... dad is..." He sobbed quietly, but discontinued when he saw the glint of rage, flickering in Etanas brown eyes. Mteremo staggered back. "E-Etana?"

With a roar, Etana threw herself over her little brother and her teeth were bared in a frenzied snarl. "YOU KILLED HIM!" She screamed, attracting the others, both slaves and Spotted Ones, attention as she dug her claws into Mteremos throat. Mteremo tried screaming for help, but Etana was both bigger and stronger than him, and managed to keep her grip around his neck. "First you killed mom, and now you killed dad! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO KILL EVERYONE?!" She kept screaming while hindering Mteremos respiratory system.

Mteremos eyes widened in fright and shock when he realized that she was actually trying to kill him. "E-Etana... S-stop!" He managed to wheeze and tried to pry his sisters hands away, allowing him to breath.

"I HATE YOU! YOU KILLED THEM BOTH, MTEREMO! YOU'RE A MURDERER! YOU KILLED THEM!" Etana was still screaming, with tears flowing down her spotted cheeks, even as a pair of Spotted Ones decided to intervene in the fight. They dragged the crazed Etana away to the other end of the shelter, while Kafeel helped Mteremo to sit upright and regain his breath.

Mteremo couldn't do anything else but to listen to his sister, as they were forced to chain her to a pole, to keep her from harming the others. "I HATE YOU, MTEREMO!" She screamed, and her shrill voice echoed over the beach. "I'LL KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME, BROTHER?! I'LL KILL YOU!"

Tears were making his vision foggy and he began to sob loudly as Kafeel tried to comfort the cub, who just almost got killed by his own sister. But she was right; it WAS his fault that both their mother and father now were dead. It was thanks to HIM that they both died. He buried his face in Kafeels arm as his sobs grew louder.

He was a murderer. First he killed their mother, and now their father was dead because of him. It was all his fault.

…

It was soon time to leave, and Tip watched with a disapproving face at the slaves they managed to retrieve. He had started out with 70 of them, now there were 'only' 57 left. And since almost half of them probably were going to die on the way to Mobile, he would only have about 30 slaves left to sell. If even that! And none of them knew any English, which definitely lowered their value immensely.

_30 slaves, in a ship built for 200..._ The fox thought to himself and gritted his teeth. _Tim won't be happy about this!_

"Captain Tip!" Raniesha, one of the Spotted Ones pack leaders and daughter of their Queen, said as she approached the captain. She had a small gang behind her, including the other two pack leaders Kisha and Tanith.

"What do you want, Raniesha?" Tip muttered and turned to the princess with his arms folded across his chest.

"We'd like to discuss one thing with you..." Raniesha said and glanced at the group of chained up slaves, who had been led out from the shelter and now stood in a gathered heap outside on the beach. Mteremo and Etana were being kept apart, for his safety. "It's about the Bouda half-breed girl" Raniesha tilted her head back to Tip. "Her grandmother might have been crazy, but she was till Spotted One, and of our blood...!"

"Where do you wanna get with this?" Tip asked impatiently, although he already knew what the princess wanted.

"We want her" Raniesha said without skipping a beat. "We've studied her, and we have noticed that she has great potential within her. If only she could control her rage, she could become a great warrior and a hunter, maybe one of the best that's ever been out there! A talent which we think is wasted working on a field"

"And you think I'll just give a couple of hundred dollars away to you mutts, just like that?"

Raniesha smiled and shook her head. "Of course not, that's why we're offering you a trade; the girl for Biton"

Tip arched a surprised eyebrow, while Taniths eyes widened in shock. "W-what?" The older pack leader exclaimed. "Biton?! But, he's MY hunter!" She snarled and faced the princess. "I need him in the pack, I CAN'T let you trade Biton for a cub!"

"That cub will be at least ten times the hunter Biton ever was!" Raniesha snapped back and flattened her ears against her neck. "Besides, I've heard that Biton is pretty useless in a hunt. He's afraid of taking risks, and prefers to just sleaze off in the shade, isn't that right, Tanith?"

Tanith growled in response, Raniesha was right: Biton was a lazy and cowardly hunter, and would often screw things up. Sleeping, building rafts and argue with his sister was really the only things he were good at. "But what about his sister?" Tanith protested, determined to keep Biton, despite his sluggishness. "And his mate? What will become of them?"

"His sister is a mated adult, she can take care of herself! His mate is probably better off without him anyway, her mother has always said that she regretted picking Biton out for her daughter" The princess growled lowly, starting to get impatient.

"That might be correct, but you're STILL not trading Biton away! You just can't do that!"

"Be quiet, Tanith! When mother is away, I'M the one who makes the rules! And you know it! And I know Biton is more of a drag to the tribe, and we would gain much more by trading him away!"

"Trade me away? What?" Biton and Chiku returned from their mission, just in time to hear the pack leaders argue. Biton felt his heart skip a beat when he heard his name being mentioned. "W-what're you talking about, Tanith? Raniesha?"

"She wants to swap you for Mwindajis daughter..." Tanith responded with a low voice, causing both Biton and Chiku to flinch and exchange horrified looks.

"That is, if the captain agrees to it..." Raniesha threw a meaning look at Tip, who was pondering with a silent frown on his face and studied Biton from head to toe; tall, perhaps a little too thin and lanky, but that was a couple of months on a field be sure to change. Looked to be about 17-18 years old, long, spiky mane and the disheveled, jet black hair on his head was pointing in all directions, that combined with large, clear, bright red colored eyes gave him a stupidly childish appearance. In any case, he'd probably get a lot more for this guy than for the little girl.

He nodded slowly. "It's a deal, the little girl for Biton. You can chain him up with the others and leave with the girl whenever you wish"

Biton froze up with shock. He couldn't believe what it was he just heard. A sudden push from his sister made him snap back to reality. "Run, Biton!" Chiku shrieked and pushed him again. "Run!"

He didn't need to be told twice, as he did a quick spin in the sand and made a beeline for the jungle. Unfortunately, he didn't make it that far until he was caught up by and overpowered by three other Spotted Ones. He was shouting and struggling against them as they tried to put the heavy shackles around his wrists. His sister turned to the three pack leaders with a hysterical look on her face.

"STOP IT! Y-you can't do this! He's my brother!" She turned and pleaded to Tanith. "Tanith, DO SOMETHING! Help him!"

Tanith clamped her teeth together and stared at the ground. She couldn't let them take Biton like that, but she didn't have much of a choice either; it was the princess' decision, and if they tried to step in for Biton, captain Tip and his armed men would stop them. There wouldn't be any use.

"We can't do anything, Chiku..." The pack leader said and frowned at Raniesha. Raniesha replied by snorting and signing for her pack members to unchain the little girl, as she was going to be brought along with them when they left.

Chiku watched helplessly as her brother was shackled and chained up with the others. "Biton..." She whispered and shook her head. "N-not Biton!"

Captain Tip nodded to his men. "Buck, Ratt, Finster, Wes, Haron; get the slaves in the boats! An' hurry up, ye sorry scoundrels!"

"Aye, cap'n!" The taipan snake, the one-eyed rat, the weasel, the young squirrel and the aye-aye said in unison and scurried off to complete their tasks, preferably BEFORE captain Tip gets so impatient that he decides to keelhaul the entire crew!

**A few days later, in the Brown Ones village...**

The hunters that were sent out had returned. Since even Mwindaji disappeared, Ajalis entire pack of five hunters were sent out, and not until now did they return. But they returned empty handed and with solemn and sad frowns on their faces. Almasi pushed through the crowd that met the pack as their returned, saw the looks on their faces and felt her head skip a beat.

"Where are they?" She walked straight up to Ajali, the slightly shorter female looked up at Almasi with a blank, emotionless look in her dark brown eyes. "Ajali, where's my brother?! And his kids?!" Ajali didn't respond at first, she just averted her eyes and clenched her jaw. Almasi grabbed the front of Ajalis pack-leader garment. "ANSWER ME, AJALI!"

"Al, calm down!" Fahamu barked and put a hand on one of Almasis arms. "Let her go!" Almasis grip hardened for a second, but then she drew a deep sigh and let go.

Ajali took a step back and looked back up at the half-spotted huntress. "I'm sorry, Almasi and Fahamu. We're ALL sorry!" She hung her head again. "We found tracks which we followed all the down to the sea, but when we came there we saw nothing. No signs of life anywhere. We decided to stay there for a day, and search the beach and it's surrounding jungle. That time we found two abandoned shelters, and signs after campfires. Then we found tracks of blood further away, closer to the jungles. We don't know whose, but there were loads of it, and it smelled familiar, smelled like Bouda. But that's not all we found..." She paused and began rooting around after something, and found it. "When we followed the river back home, we found this nearby the beach..." She said and held up a necklace, made from red and blue pearls, along with a round, yellow bone-disk, resembling the Great Mother.

Fahamu and Almasi almost forgot how to breathe when they saw the necklace; it was Mwindajis necklace, symbolizing his and Shawanas bond. She used to wear an identical, and they had both spent hours making them the day they became mates. After Shawanas death, he NEVER took it off. Almasi bit her lip as she reached out her hand and took the necklace, staring at it with a shocked expression on her face as it laid in the palm of her hand.

"We're sorry, but that's all we could find. The Spotted Ones are gone too, there's no sign of them anywhere. We think they might've... eh, killed Mwindaji... And his cubs..." Ajali added sadly, and took a step back when a low growl was heard from deep in Almasis throat.

The half-spotted huntress' nose scrunched up in an angry snarl and she closed her hand around her brothers necklace. Her ears flattened against her neck and she felt tears burn behind her eyelids. "Spotted Ones..." She growled, her voice was husky and seeping with hate as she spoke the name of the other tribe. "First they attacked Gasira and took Kafeel, then they took Etana and Mteremo, and now... Now they've..." Her voice trailed off, as it became thicker and thicker with the rage.

Fahamu blew some hair out of his eyes and threw a concerned look at his sister. "Al?"

A loud, painful cry escaped Almasis lips as she threw her head back, the tears flowing freely from her eyes. "THEY'VE KILLED WIN! THOSE SPOTTED DEMONS HAVE KILLED WIN!" She screamed and staggered, and would've have fallen to her knees if Fahamu hadn't been there to support her. He put his arm around her shoulder and calmly stroked her over her hair with the other hand.

"Win..." Was all he could say as he felt his throat tighten up. Mwindaji was... gone?

The villagers all heard her, and a lot of mixed emotions and glances were exchanged. Even the Elders left their hut to take a look at all the ruckus. The Queen had been standing leaning at a wall the entire time. The news of Mwindajis death hurt, almost as much as if it would've been one of her own children who had died. But she didn't allow herself to cry, especially not now.

Suddenly Almasis ears perked back up and the pupils in her eyes thinned into slits as she stopped crying. "Now it's WAR!" She growled and shrugged her remaining brothers arm off her shoulder. "Those Spotted devils have had their fun, now it's OUR turn!"

"No!" Elder Balozi stepped through the crowd, shortly followed by the rest of the Elders. "War is not an answer! We'll grieve your brothers passing, but we will NOT allow a war to break out!"

"Shut your fat trap, Balozi!" Almasi spat back, making the Elder flinch in surprise. "I'm NOT going to let the Spotted Ones get away with what they've done! We should've ran them out of our jungles as soon as they showed their ugly mugs here!" Agreeing nods and murmurs were heard from the crowd of Boudas gathered around them.

Afaafa sighed and let her eyes wander over the villagers. Their previously displayed sadness and grief, had been replaced by anger, frustration and by some, even bloodthirst. So, THAT was what her dream meant. A war WAS coming, and Mwindaji and his kids were the spark that ignited it.

_That leaves me with one question left..._ She thought as her eyes locked on Bora. The albino teen had also heard the news of his uncles passing, and his cousins abduction, and was biting down on his knuckles to stop himself from crying, and when Afaafa looked closer, she could also see some crimson red blood trickling down from the punctured skin on the Descendants hand. _What role has Bora the White to play in this?_

As Afaafa walked through the mass of people, they instinctively walked out of the way for the Queen and at the sight of her Balozi and the other Elders drew sighs of relief. "Finally! Queen Afaafa, help us to steer this madness! Almasi claims that the Spotted Ones has to pay for their deeds, but that might unleash a war on our lands!" Balozi threw his arms out as he talked, trying to emphasize how bad a war would've been.

"A war is never a good thing..." Afaafa said lowly and leaned against her staff. "But if it's a war the Spotted Ones want, then it's a war they'll get!"

… **Noooo, Win ;_;! *sniffle* **

**Okay, killing Mwindaji was officially the hardest thing I've ever done, yet... Dang, I really like him, probably one of my favorite characters ever :/, and now when I rethink everything, he died a really unworthy death ;_;, being shot while begging for his kids freedom and then thrown into a river... And I thought Claras death was dramatic o_o! His death was way worse than Claras, wasn't it? **

**And yes, while Bentley/Mteremo went on a homicidal frenzy at the age of 27, Etana snapped already when she was 10 o_o... And thinking about what she's like nowadays make me feel like such an awful person ;_;...  
**

**Anyway, I'll see when the next chapter comes ^^, now I think I'll bunk down with tons of ice cream in front of a really frickin' hilarious movie, and then go finish up the next SWG chapter, ciao!**


	5. Bucktoothed Buck

**Sorry it's a bit late, I spent most of my time working on the SWG chapter so I could upload it on friday, because that was the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of SWG :'D! Lol, that's probably the like, 32435th time I've mentioned it, but it just feels so unreal xD! Sorry for all the nagging ^^**

**Anyway, here y'all go! How about some Mommy-Buck to make up for the last chapters sadness xD?**

***** Chapter Five : Bucktoothed Buck *****

The little cub was sitting inside an empty barrel in one of the storage cabins, hiding from the outside world. The others were in a cargo space underneath. It had been three days since he left the mainland on the ship, but it felt like only a few hours ago. He remembered everything that happened those last moments on the beach so clearly; the empty look Etana had on her face as the Spotted Ones parted her from the rest of the slaves and replaced her with a kicking and screaming Biton. The wild protests Kafeel made when they tried to put him in a longboat, it ended with them having to knock the young Brown One unconscious to be able to get him on the boat. Mteremo felt sorry for Kafeel: all he wanted to do was to see Gasira one last time!

Also, while the rest of the Strangers followed on to the boat, Haron the Shadowman stayed behind on the beach after loading the last slaves on the last longboat. The others seemed to know why, though, and therefore they didn't ask him. Mteremo had always been fascinating by the stories of the aye-ayes, or the Shadowfolk. They were said to be warlocks, only living in small groups on their island and whenever they did arrive to the mainland it was to bring death and misfortune to everyone they deemed worthy of punishment, which could be everyone! Why Haron would blend in with these slavetraders was confusing, to say the least. And how come he spoke Bouda? And captain Tip also seemed to be able to speak Bouda?

Suddenly, a gunshot broke the silence, and the cub pressed his palms against his overdimensioned ears to block it out. The shot wasn't real, he knew, it was just an echo. It was the same gunshot that had killed his father. The scene had been replaying itself night after night; Mwindaji, wounded by a shot in the knee, was being held back by Biton and one more Spotted One as captain Tip aimed his weapon, that could kill even if it weren't even near it's target, at him and killed him. Just like that. And no matter how hard he tried to block it out, he could always hear his sisters last words to him coursing through his mind: _"You killed him! You killed them both! Why do you have to kill everyone?! I hate you, Mteremo! I'll kill you! You hear me? I'LL KILL YOU!"_

A silent sobbed escaped the cub as he nodded slowly. "Y-yeah... I hear you..." He whispered hoarsely and clenched his eyes shut. "Etana... Dad... I'm sorry!" Etana had been right: it WAS his fault that both their mom and dad were dead. _I'm a murderer... I don't wanna be a murderer! I didn't mean to kill them, I just... I just wanna go home!_

Another sob sent tears burning behind his eyelids. He just wanted this all to be a bad dream. He just wanted to wake up back in his own bed, in their own hut, back in their own village. He wanted to wake up and see his father, still alive and well, sleeping in his own bed, and Etana, no longer angry at him and just about to wake their father up to remind him that he promised them to go fishing.

"I wanna go home... to dad..." Mteremo sobbed quietly and tried to bite back the tears. "I want dad back!"

"Oi! There ya are, little mate!" Bucks familiar voice was heard above, as the long, thin, golden brown snake peeked down into the barrel, drawn by the faint sounds of crying. The cub quickly snapped his head up and stared in wide-eyed fear at the snake. "I've been searchin' allova for ya!"

The snake wrapped his tail around the cub and lifted him up out of the barrel. When he was put down on the ground, the cub took a wobbling step back before he regained his footing. That was another reason he was sitting in a barrel: the ship was constantly being tossed about by the waves, making the floor rock and thus made it impossible for the inexperienced cub to even stand up straight. The first day he had spent doubled over the railing, seasick beyond all help and just throwing up relentlessly in the ocean.

"Orders from the cap'n..." Buck said and presented a large bowl with water. Mteremo gave him a puzzled look. "He says that unless ya wanna be down there with others, we're gonna have to clean ya up" The snake wrapped his tail around a piece of cloth. "An' trust me, little mate, ya don't want that!"

Mteremo had no idea what the snake was talking about, but a quick glance in the water gave him a look at his reflection and gave him a clue; he had dirt and sand stuck all over him, and he still had blood stained on his face and arms. Not to mention that all the tears had made his face all smudgy.

He looked up at the snake with a concern frown, just when he got the wet cloth in his face. "Alright, let's see if there's a kid under all this muck, eh?"

…

Bucktoothed Buck was confusing to Mteremo. The taipan snake was one of the Strangers, evil people who enslaved other and forced the Spotted Ones to commit their dirty deeds and yet, Buck had been the only one to be kind toward the cub.

While the others had been taken down to a big room below the deck, Buck had pulled the cub aside and made it clear to the others that this cub wouldn't go down there with the others.

"Again, Buck?" Had Tip said with an annoyed growl at the snake.

"Aye, again cap'n. We can't just let this little bloke down there in the cargo, can we? He'll die within a week!" The snake replied and lowered his head to the red fox' level. "Just let me take care of him, right? Ya won't even notice he's here!"

"That's the thing, Buck. Every damn time we bring along a child ya instantly throw yaself over the mangy thing an' pretend you're it's bloody mama or somethin'!"

"Oi, go ahead an' call me squeamish, cap'n. But I just can't let ankle biters like this one get chained up down there. It's just not right!"

The captain and the taipan had a staredown for a couple of seconds, before Tip shrugged and turned around. "Fine, just keep him outta the way for the others, an' don't let 'im near the food!"

Buck nodded shortly. "Aye cap'n!"

Mteremo were still a bit scared of the big snake, but now it's been three days and he's slowly getting used to both Buck and the rest of the crew. Although the other crew-members weren't as friendly, and always looked down at the cub with a frown on their shaggy, rugged faces.

"Oi, I just can't go on an' keep callin' ya little mate all the time. Now, what was yer name again?" Buck said with a bothered grimace as he ran the wet cloth all over the little cubs face, washing away the dirt. "Y'all got such weird names, dont'cha?"

Buck used to talk to him, even if he didn't understand a syllable of what the snake said. After a while, Mteremo got used to it and instead of trying to understand, he just listened without saying anything. Somewhat happy to hear something else than the gunshot echoing in his mind.

"Ya know what, I'll just call ya Kiddo from now on, okay?" Buck shrugged and threw the cloth back into the bowl and first pointed with his tail at himself, and then to the cub. "Buck, Kiddo. Kiddo, Buck. Get it?"

Mteremo tilted his head to the side. "Buck?"

"Yeah, that's me!" The snake nodded and picked the bowl with water up. "Now close yer eyes an' hold'ya breath, Kiddo!" He warned, and a few milliseconds before he tipped the entire bowl of water over Mteremos head, the cub realized what was going to happen and he quickly closed his eyes and held his breath.

The cool water splashed between his ears and instantly drenched the thick hair on his head. He shuddered as the water ran down his shoulders and seeped through his fur. Buck picked the cloth back up and hastily wiped his face clean again.

"Hey, it's better than before!" He said with a grin and threw the cloth aside. Mteremo didn't answer, as usual. He just licked himself around the mouth, hoping to catch some of the water but instantly cringed and stuck his tongue out in disgust when he felt the salty, tangy taste of seawater. Buck chuckled. "Thirsty, eh? I'll be right back" The long snake turned around and slithered up the stairs to the above deck, leaving the cub with his head tilted in bewilderment.

In the crew, Buck was a highly respected member and the two cabin boys, Wes and Juno, looked up to him as a big brother. And the main reason Mteremo felt that he could trust this snake, wasn't because he just saved him from an uncertain, but obviously horrid, fate, but because in some way Buck reminded him a lot about his father: talkative, friendly, they even had the same chuckle! The cub let his eyes wander to the floor. And it only made him miss his father even more.

The sound of scales rustling against damp wood notified Mteremo about the snakes return and he quickly tried to blink the tears away and wiped his eyes with his still wet arm. "Oi, somethin' the matter, Kiddo?" He said instantly as he arrived and tossed a canteen with water to the cub, who wasn't prepared for it so he caught it, fumbled around with it, trying to get a grip on the little container before he dropped on the wooden floor. Mteremo let out a restrained sigh and picked it up again.

The first time in his life he had encountered a canteen had been two days ago, and upon getting the round, metal bottle he had just looked at it in confusion before trying to bite the lid. However, it didn't take him long to figure out how to remove the lid so he could drink from it. It was a small accomplishment, but he was proud to have figured it out himself! Even if the crew was rolling their eye at him, and Buck chuckled and shook his head...

"Better?" Buck asked after the cub had finished drinking in deep, greedy gulps. Mteremo tilted his head to the side and handed the canteen back to the taipan snake, but the snake didn't accept it and just cocked his head. "Ya ain't been cryin' 'ave ya? Ya know, sookin'? Turnin' on the waterworks? Sobbin'? Boohoo?" He did a motion with his tail towards his own eyes and arched an eyebrow until the cub seemed to understand what it was the snake was asking.

Mteremo hung his head and averted his eyes. "I-I wanna go home..." He said with a low voice.

"Wha?"

"I wanna go back home! A-and I want dad to come back!" The cub bit his lip as the canteen fell out of his grip and onto the cold, damp wooden floor. The tears were back, and he bit on his knuckles to hold them back. "I-I... I want m-my daddy back..."

"Oi, don't go mopin' 'bout. I get that one word, 'dad'. You're thinkin' of ye ol' man, is that right?" He patted the cubs shoulders with his tail and shook his head slowly. "Look, Kiddo. I have no idea what you're yacking about, and ya don't understand crap of what I say. But I don't think ye dad would be all too proud of a sooker, would he? You're a man, right? You're a tough bloke, like me! And we don't cry now, do we?" He rummaged around for the still damp cloth he was using earlier and handed it to the cub. "She'll be 'right! Dry 'em tears and pull yaself up. Alright?"

Mteremo looked at the piece of cloth and then back up to Buck, before looking back at the cloth. He sobbed one last time before he blew his nose into the cloth and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. One of the corners or Bucks mouth were tugged up in a lopsided and approving grin. "G'donya, little mate!" Buck chuckled, and Mteremo returned the grin with a faint smile, but then it vanished as he averted his eyes down to the floor. "An' y'know, speakin' of fathers; I think ya should be darn proud to have, or had, a ripper like yer father there. He really cared 'bout ya and ye sis! Not everyone are as lucky as ya, to have a father that cared like that. Mine?" He paused and knocked with his tailtip on the fang that jutted out from the side of his mouth. "Mine did this to me. And trust me, I'd give anythin' to have had a father like ya, kiddo!"

Mteremo smiled carefully again and glanced up at the taipan snake. He still didn't have any idea what Buck was talking about, but he sounded friendly and supporting enough to assume that he was trying to cheer him up.

Suddenly a loud bell rang from the top deck, and both the snake and the hyena cub perked up. A deep rumble from Mteremos stomach followed, which made Buck laugh out loud.

"And now we're hungry, huh? Don'tcha worry, Kiddo. I'll see what I can save for ya!" The snake said with a reassuring wink and slithered back up the stairs, leaving Mteremo behind in the minor storage again.

He was lucky. He had Buck who helped him and took care of him. The cub bit his lip and looked down at the floor. The others down there weren't as lucky...

…

While Mteremo stayed down in the room during the days, he always came out at nights. When everyone (even the ones who were supposed to stand guard) were asleep, he took the opportunity to sneak out. He didn't like to go out in the day for two reasons: the crew, who seemed to be wanting to gut him like a fish at the mere sight of him, and the Great Mother.

Ever since he left the mainland, the Great Mother had been... different. She had used to be glowing with a mild, warm light, but now She was blazing and threatening to scorch everyone on the surface. It was like she was mad at something. He didn't always see Her though, she had a lot of clouds to hide behind, but whenever she peeked out; it was like she was glaring, aiming her fury down at the little cub. Eventually, he just gave up on his tries to apologize to her, in hopes that she would calm down, and just decided to venture out at nights. Even if he was told not to.

Captain Tip had been there when slaves who were allowed to roam free had thrown themselves off the ship, and down into the dark sea. Therefore, he strictly forbid Buck to allow his ward to wander off alone, ESPECIALLY at nights. Although, Mteremo would probably never be able to jump from the ship, even if he wanted to; just the mere sight of the bottomless, dark greenish blue ocean was enough to make him sick!

Heavy and loud snores were heard from the guards as they lied down with their backs against either a mast or the railing and slept, aimlessly roaming around in dreamland. Drowned out by their own snores, Mteremo could easily sneak past them without making a sound.

He threw a look at the deep, black night sky speckled with tiny, shiny dots; the souls of their ancestors. He narrowed his eyes as he once again scouted the sky for any sign of his fathers soul, but he couldn't find him. With a given up sigh he let his shoulders slouch as he looked back down and shook his head. "They didn't burn him, did they?" He whispered quietly to himself as he was forced to accept the fact that his father never would appear on the sky with the others. Not as long as his body was still intact.

A sudden snore made him jump in surprise as the weasel next to him, Finster, stirred in his sleep and grunted something incoherent. Mteremo didn't dare to as much as breathe again until the weasels guttural snores were resumed. He decided to get away from the guards and threw a look up the tallest of the three masts. He had always been intrigued by the little basket up there, where Ratt the one-eyed rat, seemed to be spending most of his days. He hesitated for a second before starting to climb the ladder that was etched to the mast. Perhaps, if he went all the way up, he could still see his old home? They couldn't have gotten that far in only three days, could they?

The higher up he got, the more the mast began to rock, and the more he began to regret his decision. He cast a nervous look at the basket, only a few meters left. He could make it! With a deep sigh filling his lungs, he tried to ignore the nauseating rocking of the mast and kept climbing up the ladder, until his head peeked up through a hole in the basket. He looked around and saw that he was the only one up here and climbed up.

His legs were shaking from the long climb up, and he felt fatigued. He walked over to the railing and looked around. He was hoping to see at least a glimpse of the mainland, but he saw nothing. Nothing but the wide, vast, empty ocean, colored dark blue from the night. With a disappointed grunt he leaned on the railing and rested his head on his arms.

Suddenly he saw something white flutter in the corner of his eye and he curiously looked up. A bird was sailing on the winds, when suddenly a strong gust blew and got the bird out of course. It squawked as it hit the top beam of the tallest mast and managed to get ensnared in the ropes, which only added on to it's fear. It squawked louder and tried its best to flap it's wings to get out of the ropes, but it only made matters worse.

Mteremo stared at the bird in alarm: it was making enough noise to perhaps wake some of the guards up! He leaned over the rail and looked at the beam who traveled straight across the mast, helping to hold it's great, white sail up. He gulped before carefully climbing out and put a foot on the beam. It was constantly twitching due to the wind, and relatively slippery. Lucky it hadn't been raining for a while, or else it would've been impossible to walk on!

With his eyes focused on the bird in front of him, he began to make his way forward on the beam. His arms were splayed out from his body and he found himself biting his tongue to not lose his concentration. When he was in front of the struggling bird, he came to a slow stop and bent down, sitting down on the beam with one leg on each side.

The bird was struggling, both against the ropes holding it down, and the predator who just arrived. It made it very hard to Mteremo to release it, after a while he finally managed to untangle the hysterical bird. With a relieved look on his face, he saw the white critter shoot for the sky and tried to put as much distance between itself and the evil trap it just escaped.

Suddenly Mteremo frowned as a realization made it's way through his adrenaline-fazed brain; it was a bird. In the middle of the ocean? But, didn't birds mean that there was land nearby? Maybe they WERE closer to his home than he thought?!

Filled with new hope, he began scouting the horizon again, and this time he found something. But it wasn't the beach they left. It was an island, surrounded by sharp, pitch black cliffs, protruding from the waters dark surface like jagged fangs. And the ship was headed straight for them!

"H-hey! HEY!" Mteremo hollered and cupped his hands around his mouth, aiming his voice down to the deck. "HEY! WAKE UP! WE'RE GONNA CRASH! HEEEY!" He shouted as loud as he could, and his ears perked when he saw movement down on the ship. "HEY! LOOK OVER THERE!" He shouted once again as the crew swarmed up on the deck, drawn by the ruckus.

"What the devil? Kiddo?! WHAT THE HECK ARE YA DOIN' UP THERE, MATE?!" Buck was one of the crew members who had gathered on the top deck first, and when he saw the cub sitting on the top beam on the main mast, he was instantly met with panic. "GET DOWN HERE, for fuck sake!"

"LOOK OVER THERE! WE'RE GONNA CRASH!"

"Nice job, Buck! Now we'll ALL get into trouble just b'cause yer kid snuck out!" Ratt hissed and glared with his one bloodshot, dark blue eye at the taipan.

"Shut your trap, Ratt! KIDDO! GIT DOWN THERE, NOW!"

"HELLLOOO?! AM I TALKIN' TO MYSELF HERE?!" Mteremo shouted and took a new glance at the approaching cliffs, they were so close now he could see the birds nests. Even if it was in the middle of the night, some birds were still circling about. "WE'RE GONNA CRASH!" He turned back to the crew with a newly awoken panic in his voice. "BUCK!" He shouted, and the taipan reacted to his name. "BUCK! LOOK"

The cub extended one of the arms he used to keep his grip on the beam and pointed at the cliffs. Buck followed his finger, and instantly felt the color drain from his face at the sight of the pointy cliffs. "BLOODY HELL!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, causing the others to also turn and see the cliffs.

"Holy Jesus, Mary an' Josef! Cap'n?! CAPTAIN?!" Finster, who just woke up in time to see the cliffs, hollered.

"We ain't got time! Where the hell is Chunky?!" Buck hissed with a nod at the rudder, where a chubby polecat should have been standing but now instead were ropes, holding the round wheel like rudder in place.

"He's been in the loo the entire day, dont'cha remember that hyena food he ate?"

"For codgers sake, when I get my coils on that dipstick I'll..." Buck muttered grumpily, but never finished the sentence, as he hurried up the stairs to the rudder, and threw a new, nervous look on the cliffs. Just then, a strong gust of wind blew and grabbed the sails, giving the ship a forceful push forward.

"Bloody hell..." The snake hissed through his teeth when he realized that he didn't have time to untie the ropes and just grabbed one of the many handles with the tip of his tail.

With a grunting effort he spun the rudder, both the ropes and some of the handles snapped as the rudder spun and the ship was forced to make a sharp turn to avoid the sharp cliffs. The entire ship cringed at the sharp turn, and the wood was creaking and moaning in protest.

The beam Mteremo was sitting on suddenly cringed along with the ship, causing the cub to lose his grip and fall down. He screamed as his hands flailed for something to grab onto. He managed to grab the end of the sail and hung there with his feet dangling STILL a dangerously high distance from the deck.

"B-Buck! BUCK!" He screamed in fear when his grip on the sail began to slip. He tried to get a new grip and screamed again; "BUUUCK!"

Buck perked up when he heard the cub shout his name and instantly spotted him losing his grip on the sails. But he couldn't dart off to save him; he had to hold the rudder in it's current position, or else it would spin out of control and they would get on the same course again: straight for the cliffs. "Somebody CATCH HIM!"

He had barely finished the sentence until Wes and Juno had brought a big sailcloth, which the crew all helped to hold up underneath the cub. When Mteremo lost his grip on the sail, he knew for sure that he was a goner. He screamed as he fell backwards, down to what he thought was going to be his death. But instead of meeting the cold, hard ship deck, he landed in something softer and even bounced back up again a little.

When the little cub was safe in the sailcloth, the crew carefully let go of it and some scurried up to the cub to check if he still was alive. Mteremo still hadn't grasped what really happened there, but there was one thing he knew: he was alive. He was without the shadow of a doubt so very much alive! He had never been this alive in his entire life! That beat placing thorns on Elder Balozis chair by FAR!

A sudden scratching, gnarling sound was heard, and it sent vibrations throughout the entire ship. A cliff had been hiding underneath the waters edge, and as the ship was trying to turn away from the dangerous, spiked rocks, it must have hit the hidden cliff. With the slow, scraping noise slowly fading away, the cleared the area and managed to get away from the cliffs.

When the rudder stopped resisting, Buck slowly let go of it, and found it to be still and calm again. With a relieved chuckle he turned to the deck, and noticed that people were acting funny around the cub. _He ain't dead, is he?_ Was the first, terrified thought that appeared in Bucks mind as he hurried down to the rest of the crew.

The cub was alive, thank god. He was even giggling as he lied spread-eagle on the sailcloth that saved him. Buck let out a deep, relieved sigh when he saw that his ward was unharmed.

"WHAT in blue blazes is goin' on 'ere?!" Captain Tips furious voice boomed as he opened the door to his cabin and stormed out on deck. "What's all this shoutin' an' WHY the hell did the ship...?!" He interrupted himself when he saw the cub slowly getting to his wobbly feet. "What is the cub doin' up here?!"

"Cap'n, I think Kiddo here just saved us all" Finster said with a slow nod at the hyena cub. "We all woke up when he was shoutin' an' makin' a big fuss, he saw that we were headin' towards them there cliffs, sir, an' he saved us!" The crew nodded and murmured in agreement.

Tip let his gaze wander over his crew until he finally stuck on Buck. "Buck. What was he doin' up 'ere in the first place?"

"Uh... I dunno, he must've snuck out when I was snoozin', cap'n." The golden brown snake said with a shrug. "But good thing too, I reckon. Or else we would all have been nothing but squash b'now!"

"And where is Chunky? He's the one who's supposed to keep a bloody eye on the rudder!"

"Bad shrimp, cap'n..."

"Ya were all sleepin' again, weren'tcha?" The crew responded to their captain with nervous clearings of throats and mumbles. Tip looked down at the cub with a disapproving face once again. "He's lucky he saved us, or else he'd get thrown down there in the cargo with the rest of them..." He said, causing Mteremo to flinch at the harsh tone of voice. "If this repeats itself, I'll keelhaul the lot of ya, understand?!" The entire crew nodded in unison. "Good, Finster! Ya make sure we get back on track! An' Buck, make sure that cub STAYS in storage for the rest o' th'night!"

"Aye cap'n!" Buck said and gave the cub a gentle push with his tail for him to move back down the stairs to the storage room.

…

"Whew, I'm tellin' ya, Kiddo! We're darn lucky you're 'ere, or else we would all have been sent to Davy Jones locker t'night! That was WAY too much fun for me! And boy are we lucky that she didn't got any leaks from that little 'close encounter' back there, just some paint that scraped off, that's a beaut!" Buck was yapping all about that near-death moment the entire crew of Clotilde had just a few moments ago. Apparently, they had been blown slightly out of course, and were headed towards a group of uncharted rocky islands. Well, who'd have guessed?

Mteremo threw a look at the empty barrel, that still stood in the corner of the room, and then he looked at his 'bed'; a pile of old, dusty blankets. The cub turned back to the barrel. He didn't like sleeping out in the open on a pile of blankets, but the barrel wasn't all that comfy either.

"Oi, somethin' the matter, Kiddo?" Buck asked with his head tilted to the side.

The cub didn't answer, instead he walked over to the barrel and looked at it for a while, before going behind it. By putting his feet against the wall and his back against the barrel and push, he managed to turn it over. He picked up the blankets and stuffed the barrel with them before getting a pair of soaps to lodge underneath the sides of the barrel, thus stopping it from rolling around. When he was done, he crawled into the barrel and cozily buried himself among the blankets. Sure, it was a bit claustrophobic in there, but he'd get used to it!

Buck chuckled and shook his head. "Well, I'm givin' ya points for ye creativity, little mate." He said and turned around to return to the brig. "G'night, Kiddo!" He said as he began to slither up the stairs.

Mteremo hesitated for a while, before he replied: "G'night, Buck!"

Buck stopped in his tracks and turned his head around, looking back at the little cub who just began to drift off into sleep. A faint smiled played at the taipan snakes mouth. "You're a sharp little bugger, aren't ya?"

**That right, Buck is the biggest, squishiest, mother-of-the-year Aussie to ever sail over the seven seas, and he's damn proud of it xD! (He's every singlemothers dream-man, lol :P)**

**Anyway, hopefully I'll get the next chapter up relatively soon, still got a load of homework and tests to do -.-...**


	6. The Storm

**WOAH! I TOTALLY forgot about this! So, so sorry to have made y'all wait, I completely forgot to upload this ;_;! This week has been crazy with homework and tests and everything from hell, plus I just started playing the game 'Okami' and now I'm obsessed with it... Hehehe, oops ^^"...  
**

**Anyway, time to give Bentley a new name: Kiddo. Did I forgot to mention that he has a total of four names that he gets from the people around him :P? Calebs nickname 'B' not included...**

***** Chapter Six : The Storm *****

The ships journey lasted for almost two months. Two very long months for the little cub, who now went by the name "Kiddo". One day he realized that he had forgotten it; his real name. Day in and day out he had been called Kiddo by everyone so eventually it had gotten stuck, and he slowly forgot that he had another name. Day in and day out for almost two months.

Although, he had to admit that things could have been worse; the crew could have still despised him, just like they had done the first days of the journey, before the little cub saved the entire ship and her crew from getting crushed among sharp and dark cliffs in the middle of the night. Most of them even greeted the little cub, almost as if he was one of them, and no one looked down at him anymore. But that could also be because Buck had promised to personally throw anyone who was mean to Kiddo overboard faster than he could say 'deckswabber'.

Buck had always been nice to the cub, nicer than anyone else on the ship ever had been. He gave him food and water, and made sure that he got to stay in the little storage room by himself, rather than in the cargo at the bottom of the ship, where the rest of the slaves were being kept. Buck didn't tolerate anyone looking down on Kiddo, the only one who still did was the captain. It was obvious that he didn't approve of the cub living like one of them, although he never said anything; his golden eyes told them everything. They always narrowed and sent cold chills down the cubs spine whenever the fox looked at him with resent.

Buck and Tip clearly had very different opinions on this all, but since Tip was the captain, Buck couldn't do much than obey whenever Tip ordered him to keep the kid out of the way of the others, especially himself. The only reason he let Buck take care of Kiddo at all was because he knew how much weaker children were compared to the adults, and it was almost always they who perished first.

At first, he had refused to let the cub roam freely on deck, but after the nearly avoided accident with the cliff island, he now allowed Kiddo to explore the rest of the top deck, with the conditions that there had to be at least TWO to supervise over him, and the second deck and cargo was strictly off-limits.

Kiddo really tried his best to stay out of the way for the others, but unfortunately it proved to be almost impossible for the curious little cub. Especially the two cabin boys Wes and Juno became the victims when Kiddos curiosity caused trouble. For instance when he accidentally flipped a barrel of some strange, dry herbs they called 'tea' when trying to look down in it, and it's contents were shortly spread all over the deck thanks to a well-timed wave. The water that crashed in on the ship also mixed the tea into a watery goo. Tip was furious and decided to take his anger out on Wes, the unfortunate teenage squirrel who had to clean everything up. For every week that passed, the two cabin boys acted more and more nervous whenever Kiddo was around; they never knew what he might crash or lit on fire this time!

Even if the crew was still quite scary, he was fascinated by their work and their language, and quickly picked up on several words and even a few sentences, like: "Just pass the fuckin' biscuits already, mate!", "Oi, where's the booze at?" and "Get outta me face ye little fuckin' piece of shit!". Okay, maybe a crew of sailors weren't recommended as English teachers.

The place where he used to spend most of his time was in the basket on top of the mainmast, or the 'crows nest' as the sailors called it. Which the cub found rather funny since he had never seen a crow there at all!

Usually it was Ratt who were on duty in the crows nest, but every time Kiddo joined him up there, the black-rat saw it as a perfect opportunity to take a nap and leave the guarding post to the cub. But Kiddo never minded that, in fact he liked to stay on guard. Even if gazing out over the empty sea did remind him that for every day that passed, he got further and further away from home. And his family. There was only one thing worse than the homesickness and longing Kiddo felt, and it was to see the slaves who didn't make it; those who had died during the trip, getting thrown back into the sea.

He would never forget when he saw a few men from the crew carry one of the sandcats up from the cargo on deck, only a few weeks after their departure. Kiddo had first been curious to why they would let this individual out, but then he noticed that the sandcat was alarmingly malnourished and it's once grayish golden fur was faint and dull in color, and the blank look in his hazel eyes as he emptily stared up at the clear blue sky could only mean one thing: he was dead.

Kiddo had stared in shock as they threw the lifeless sandcat over the rail and into the sea, luckily Buck had been there to quickly wrap his tail around the little cub and pull him away. Even if Buck promised that he wouldn't let anything like that happen to his little 'ankle biter', Kiddo couldn't help but to feel a twinge of fear whenever another died. Both for himself, and if there was anyone he knew who were about to get carried up. Not even Biton deserved something like this! But Kiddo never saw anyone he knew, at least knew the name of, get carried out, and that calmed him down a notch. But not entirely.

Last week they had encountered a strip of land far off in the horizon, and seeing it filled Kiddo with hope once again; what he saw as soon as they got close enough was the jungle forest, stretching as far as their eyes could see. But that hope was shattered when he realized it wasn't his home they had returned to: it was someplace new. Someplace with completely different kinds of plants and trees, and the ones living there looked... odd.

They had set the anchor as close to the shore as they could when a boat with three creatures arrived. Two of the three creatures had looked like some kind of rodent, one of them was big and heavy, and had thick, water proof dark brown fur covering his entire bulky body. His ears were puny in comparison to his head and Kiddo could have sworn that he saw webbing between his toes. The other rodent-like critter was smaller and had longer fur in three colors: black, white and gold. He reminded Kiddo a bit about a wild dog in color. His ears were bigger than the dark brown rodents, and he once let out a squeaky noise while he spoke, seemingly out of habit.

The third one on the boat was a monkey of some kind, with his arms and lower parts of the body was dark brown, almost black, while his head and chest were white. He used his long tail to give captain Tip a bundle of some sort of odd, dull green leaves that Tip instantly snatched and began to count them. When he was done, he gave the monkey a short, pleased nod before ordering his men to take the two rodents down below deck.

For a moment there Kiddo, who was hiding from the three strangers behind the door to the captains cabin, which Buck had ordered him to do, thought that they were going to get locked up down there as well! But after a couple of minutes, they emerged with three of the slaves: a female fennec, an hyrax and a brown hyena: Kafeel.

Upon seeing Kafeel again after more than a month, Kiddo forgot all about the creepy strangers and bolted out from his hideout. "Kafeel!" He exclaimed cheerfully, happy to see Kafeel still alive and well.

Okay, scratch that 'well' part; he was a lot thinner than he had ever been before in his entire life and his fur had the same dullness as the sandcats. His puffy, bloodshot eyes stared blankly down at the cub who just ran up to him seemingly out of nowhere, and threw his little arms around his waist.

"Kafeel! Y-you're alive!" Kiddo cheered and buried his face in the older hyenas fur, but didn't get any response.

He carefully looked up, only to see that Kafeel was staring off somewhere ahead, his earth colored eyes were blank and seemed lifeless. He didn't even seem to know that the cub was there at all. "K-Kafeel?" Kiddo tried once again to say the hunters name, but Kafeel didn't as much as blink. The cub didn't protest when Buck coiled his tail around his waist and pulled him away from the apathetic brown hyena.

"Buck!" Tip barked angrily at the snake, who turned his big, dark brown eyes to the fox and frowned. "I thought ya said that mangy thing was hiding?"

"That's what I thought as well, cap'n..." The taipan answered with a low mumble as he arched a questioning eyebrow at the cub.

"K-Kafeel...?" Kiddo ignored the two adults questioning frowns and just stared wide-eyed in disbelief as Kafeel walked as in trance and allowed himself to be taken down to the boat, gently rocking on the waves next to the much bigger schooner.

Sure, Kafeel was alive, but not on the inside. Kiddo couldn't take his eyes off when the three odd creatures, which he later learned were called kapybara, guinea pig and capucchin, left with the three slaves back to the mainland. He listened half-heartedly at the argument Buck and Tip were having, Tip seemed angry that the cub had run out and hugged one of the slaves, which in turn made Tip having to explain to the three merchants that one of his crew members were taking care of the kid.

The looks they got from the trio was, to say the least, weird. "Why would he do that?"

But Kiddo didn't as much as turn his head whenever his name was mentioned, he still couldn't believe that Kafeel was gone now as well. At least he hadn't perished in the cargo, but the empty look in his face was concerning, and it made Kiddo even sadder to just think about it. He had always liked Kafeel! He was really nice, funny and one of their familys closest friends. Even though the hunter was a bit of a scaredy-cat sometimes, but Almasi had told them about times when Kafeel had proven himself to be surprisingly brave!

Kiddo was lodged in his thoughts for the remainder of the day, worried that everyone was like Kafeel now, and that he himself too would become apathetic and zombie-like! And when he finally fell asleep, he had a nightmare. He heard that cursed gunshot echo once more, and he saw his father getting murdered right in front of him. He woke up with the same troubling feeling of helplessness and throbbing heart, and reliving the memory had made him begin to sob uncontrollably. For some reason, he began to ponder what his real name was before finally being able to fall asleep again almost at daybreak. He could still remember the others names, so the loss of his own puzzled him, and made him feel frustrated.

By now, he hadn't just managed to forget his own name, the names of his family and friends were slowly slipping away too! No matter how hard he tried to hang on to them! Soon, the only names he could remember were Mwindaji, Etana, Bora, Fahamu, Almasi and Afaafa, his family and their Queen. He could still remember the face of the others, he just couldn't give them a name.

Desperately trying to keep his family in his memory, he tried to rehearse their names to himself every night. So far that seemed to work.

And in lack of anything else to do, he was sitting in the crows nest, his back against the mast and silently rehearsing their names once again. Determined to not forget about them! Although, his constant mumbling when he kept repeating the names sent chills down Ratts spine and it didn't take many minutes for the rat to glare down at the cub.

"Ay, shut up with that mumbo-jumbo nonsense, Kiddo!" He snarled suddenly, making the little cub jump in surprise as he lost his focus and looked up at the one-eyed rat with a bewildered look on his face. "What're ya tryin'a do? Summon a demon or somethin'?"

Kiddo didn't understand half of what the rat said to him, but he did catch and understand the 'shut up' part and it made him lower his head slightly. "I-I'm sorry" He said carefully.

Ratt snorted, finding it even creepier when the cub tried to speak English, but just shrugged in response before turning his attention back at the sea. "Just keep ye weirdness to yaself, okay? You'll see that overseers ain't exactly the most understandin' folks around. They'll find out if ye a weird person or not and try to whip it out'o ya! And their whips ain't to be looked down on!"

…

Hours later, Kiddo was covering in the shade of the mainsail, sitting on the boom itself, trying to escape the Great Mothers blazing heat. She seemed to be mad at him still, and not knowing why only made him feel even more anxious. He was fidgeting with some loose ends of the old and way too large tunic he was given to wear by Buck, who had hated the Brown One garment he had been wearing from the start.

He was deeply rooted in his thoughts when Ratts voice was heard over the busy mens chattering on the ship; "LAND O'HO!"

Instantly, curious heads were turned to gaze beyond the bowsprit and just like Ratt said, they saw a thin, dark blue strip of land far, far away. It would probably take them all day just to get there, yet the sight of land seemed to spur the men into working faster and harder. Tip grinned contentedly when he saw the land, and even two other ships that seemed to be heading towards the land. Mobile was close, that was for sure.

He admitted that they had been really lucky this trip; the weather had been stable, except for a few small storms, only twelve of the slaves had perished and they had even managed to avoid the Squadrons ships! If they had met a ship from the abolitionist border patrol, they would have been in deep shit, considering Tip already had enough trouble from abolitionist movements both on land AND sea. They knew that behind the merchant facade, he was still active within the slavery business, but so far they hadn't found enough evidence to prosecute him.

According to his calculations, they would reach the city of Mobile sometime in the middle of the night, which was even more perfect as they would first sneak the slaves off and deliver them to Tim via longboats before arriving to the docks in the morning to sell off the merchandise. That tactic had worked every time for fifteen years, and he hoped that it would succeed this time as well!

Suddenly, a loud, deep rumble echoed across the sky and made Tip flatten his large ears to his neck. He turned around as well as the other members of the crew and they all saw the dark gray, almost black, clouds close in on them from the open sea. The storms they had encountered earlier this trip had been relatively mild and easy, this didn't look like one of them. A bolt of lightning split through the darkness and shortly after, the rumble returned, louder this time.

"Buck!" Tip barked and within the blink of an eye, the long golden brown snake appeared next to the captain.

"Aye?"

"Lock th'kid up downstairs. There's no way we'll be able to outrun this storm, and we can't have that little rat scurryin' around and get in ev'ryones way!"

"Aye cap'n!" Buck nodded and disappeared as fast and sudden as he had arrived.

Kiddo wasn't too concerned about the approaching storm, as it wasn't rare with thunder and rain back home. What did worry him was the fact that they were out in the middle of nowhere, on the sea, in a boat. If the boat sank, they would all surely die. And the men seemed anxious about this one, they hadn't been too concerned about the previous storms, but this one made them all exchange nervous glances and Ratt even scurried down from the mainmast to help wherever he could.

"Oi, Kiddo!" Bucks familiar voice snapped and before Kiddo could register what was going on, the taipan snake had tied his tail around the cub and dragged him off to the storage room. He threw the kid down on the floor among the boxes just as the ship was thrown to the side by a powerful wave crashing into the side. Kiddo staggered and looked up at Buck. Buck narrowed his dark eyes, pointed at the cub with his tailtip and say as loud and clear as he could: "Stay!" Before he turned around and slithered back up the stairs, slamming the large door shut behind him.

Kiddo understood what 'stay' meant, and he didn't object as a ridiculously loud thunder was heard from the outside and he heard the rain hit the upper deck. The cub gulped and skittered off into the corner to hide in his barrel with his hands clamped over his overdimensioned ears. He had never been afraid of storms and thunder before, but this time was different. This time the others worry had spread to him, and now he was terrified!

…

The storm was over them faster than they had expected. The rain was pouring down, the once clear skies had now turned into an ominous black and the lightning bolts that pierced through the clouds lit the area up like it was in the middle of the day, at least for a while. And not to mention that the thunder was deafening.

Everyone in the crew had tired thick ropes around their waists and in turn tied it to the mainmast as a lifeline. Everyone was busy with doing something: securing the sails, hold the rudder, guard the slaves, tie the cannons etc. And Tip was standing in the middle of it all, shouting out orders to left and right.

"WHAT'RE YE DOIN' UP THERE, YA LAZY FLEABAGS?!" Tip roared to drown out the noise from the storm. "I TOLD YA TO SECURE THE SAILS! ALL OF THEM!"

Finster, Ratt, Juno, Wes and a lanky, light gray bobcat whose beard was divided into two braids, nicknamed 'H', was furiously trying to secure the gallantsail, but the rope they were tugging just wouldn't budge. And neither of them cheered loudly at the thought of having to climb up there to release whatever was blocking the contraption.

Finster passed on that message to Juno, who quickly scurried over to the captain to tell him about their trouble. Tip let out an exasperated sigh as he pondered on how to solve that. The storm was raging all around him, making it hard for him to concentrate.

"Where's Buck?" He suddenly asked, Juno answered by pointing up at the poopdeck, where Buck had taken over the rudder and intertwined his entire long, whipping tail around the entire thing to get a better grip and keep the ship on a somewhat correct course. Tip cursed once again when he saw how busy the snake was at the moment and threw a glance at the opposite staircase, leading down to the storage rooms. He was going to have to fetch the cub by himself. "Never mind, I'll fix it. Just make sure the others don't go climbin' about the masts, is that clear?!"

Juno nodded violently. "Yessir!" He saluted and watched as the red fox ignored him and turned to go down the stairs.

The violent waves were crashing against the ship, making it twist and jerk and it was hard to keep the footing on the slippery, water covered deck, but Tip seemed like the one who had the least trouble making his way across the ship. He hurried down the stairs and had to search through all three storage rooms before he finally found the hyena cub, all curled up inside a barrel stuffed with blankets. His already frightened pinkish red eyes seemed to wide even further at the sight of the captain.

"Get up here! You're gonna do some good for once!" He said and harshly pulled Kiddo out of the barrel. Kiddo had almost forgotten that the captain could speak Bouda, and that surprise made him ignore the rough handling and he just tilted his head at him.

"You DO speak, Bouda. Do you?"

"That has NOTHING to do with this, now come here!" Tip snarled impatiently and grabbed the cub by the mane on his neck and almost dragged him up to the top deck, just as a wave hit the floor and cold, ankle-deep water washed over the entire top deck.

Kiddos eyes widened in fear once again and he looked up at the captain with both pleading and confusion, only to be ignored by the fox as he was dragged over to the first mast. They still hadn't gotten the rope loose to unfold the sail. Tip gestured to the men to get a lifeline for the cub from the mainmast.

"See that up there?" Tip said and had to shout to be heard over the roaring wind and the rain that kept hammering down on them. He pointed up to the base of the rope, which was very hard to see due to the storm and the water that rained down in his eyes when he looked up, but Kiddo still nodded. "Climb up there, see why the rope is stuck and fix it!"

Kiddos little heart skipped a beat and he staggered back, threatening to slip on the slippery deck. "W-what? M-me?!" He looked up at the mast again, it was swaying dangerously in the harsh wind. "I... I don't think I can..."

"Do I look like the one who cares?! Out of everyone in this crew, you are the one who climbs the best. Don't deny it, I've seen you climb up and down these masts like they're trees!" He took the lifeline handed to him by Ratt and tied it around the cubs waist. "This will stop you from falling into the water!"

Kiddo hesitated for a couple of beats. "B-but, what if I fall to the floor?"

"Then you're dead" Tip replied without hesitation and pushed the cub towards the mast. "So don't fall down or Buck will never let me live it down!"

The cubs heart were beating like a drum against his ribs as he slowly began his slow ascent up the swaying, slippery mast. The fear coursed through his mind and every instinct in his body told him to get down, but one look at the captains frightening, stern face made him climb all the way up to the gallantsail. The heaving contraption that made it easier for the sailors to fold the sails without having to climb up on the beams and do it manually, thus risking their lives in situations like these.

Buck was struggling to keep the ship heading straight, so when he glanced up just as another, rumbling bolt lit up the sky he saw Kiddo slowly and carefully climb up the ladder of the front mast. First, he couldn't believe his eyes, then he instantly turned his eyes down to the deck and found Tip. A low growl was heard from deep in the snakes throat. "TIP! CAP'N TIP!" He shouted and earned an annoyed look from the red fox. "WHAT'S GOING ON?! WHAT'S KIDDO DOING...?!"

"HE'S CLIMBIN', WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?!"

Buck snarled again over have been interrupted and looked back at the cub. He felt a twinge of worry when Kiddo slipped down a notch, but managed to grab on hold before he fell down. "Well, I'M HOLDIN' YOU RESPONSIBLE IF HE FALLS!" He could see Tip shrug in response before turning his back to the snake on the poopdeck, right when the ship was hit by another wave and cringed, forcing Buck to turn his full attention back to the rudder.

Kiddo managed to make his way all the way up to the top, and was hugging his arms around the swaying, slippery mast to not fall down. Carefully, he turned his head to the beam holding up the sail and searched for the heaving contraption attaching the rope to the sail. It was hard to see with the rain batting down in his eyes, not to mention that his thick bangs had grown heavy with all the water and were almost completely covering his eyes. He spotted the contraption, but hesitated to walk out.

The wind was roaring, the rain poured down in a never ending stream and the thunder seemed to rage on forever. Whatever deity they had pissed off, they sure had pissed him or her off big time! Another wave crashed into the hull off the ship, and the collision made the entire ship jerk suddenly to the side, causing Kiddo to scream in fear and hug the mast tighter. His entire body was shaking from the cold, exhaustion and fear, and he didn't want to do anything else than to just climb back down and hide out in his barrel. But if he did, Tip would surely throw him overboard.

He looked at the contraption at the far end of the beam again, drew a deep breath before carefully crawling out on the beam. As slow as humanly possible, the little cub was dragging himself along the beam, the slightest wave made him grip the beam even harder to not fall down, either into the water or worse: the hard floor. He still wore the lifeline that would stop him from disappearing into the sea, but the question was; if he fell down, would anyone have the time or will to bother to rescue him?

A knot on the rope had been what's blocked the contraption, and after some struggling he managed to clear it up. He tugged the rope as a signal to the others that it was done, and it didn't take long until the men on deck had secured the sail and tied the rope to the mast so they finally could help the others. It felt like forever to the cub until he had made it back to the mast and began to climb down to the safety of the deck. Well, at least it was safer there than on the mast.

But when he was almost there, a lightning bolt hit the mast and the entire ship racked with the power, causing him to lose his grip and fall to the deck. The impact left him knocked out for a couple of seconds, before he slowly fluttered his eyes open. Through the haze and the black spots that danced in front of his eyes, he saw the mast crack by the middle and with an ominous creaking sound, it slowly tipped over and fell towards the deck. Kiddos eyes widened in fear when he saw the mast come heading straight towards him, but his entire body was like frozen; no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't move from the spot!

"KIDDO, WATCH OUT!" Bucks voice made Kiddo jump in surprise, but he didn't get the time to turn his head to search for the snake until a big, sharp-toothed mouth picked him up and carried him off. But they didn't get far until the owner to the mouth came to an abrupt stop and tossed the cub away. Kiddo landed on the water-covered floor and rolled before coming to a stop. His head perked up and a few feet away lay Buck, the top of the mast had fallen on top of him. The snake didn't move.

"B-Buck?" Kiddo whispered hoarsely, his lip was trembling. _I-is he...?_

"Buck is down!" One of the crew members hollered, he was shortly accompanied by the rest of the crew.

"GET THAT THING OFF HIM AND TAKE HIM DOWNSTAIRS!" Tip shouted and walked over to the cub, who had managed to get up on his knees and now covered underneath the furious glare of the red fox captain. "What. Happened?" He hissed through clenched teeth.

"I-I saw, cap'n! Buck was savin' Kiddo, and...!" Wes had heard the captains question for the cub and answered, but before he could finish the sentence Tip waved him off and narrowed his eyes at the cub.

Kiddo tried to crawl back, but Tip managed to grab the cub by the thick mane again and dragged him off to the stairs. "And STAY down there!" He growled and threw Kiddo away from him.

The cub managed to stagger the first half of the stairs, but then he fell and tumbled the rest of the way down with a yelp. His body felt sore and aching when he got up on his knees, threw a scared glance at the furious fox at the top of the stairs and then scurried off to 'his' storage room. But instead of diving into the barrel, he crawled up against a corner and hugged his knees as he tried to slow his beating heart down. _Buck isn't dead! Buck isn't dead! H-he can't be dead!_ He kept telling himself over and over again as he slowly rocked back and forth. A sob escaped his throat. _Buck can't die! Please, Great Mother! Don't take him too!_

…

The entire crew had been needed to get the mast off the snake and drag him down, while the ship was being tossed around like a ragdoll on the raging sea. Buck had been seriously injured by the heavy mast, but he was still not quite dead.

Kiddo waited until the crew had to run upstairs again to regain control over the ship, until he slowly made his way to the injured snake. Bucks body was shivering with every pained breath he took, and when he heard someone sneaking up on him, one of his large, dark brown eyes opened and stared at the cub. Kiddo stopped dead in his tracks and felt a heavy lump form in his chest. But to his surprise, Buck didn't seem mad at him. Instead, Buck let out a relieved sigh and closed his eyes.

"Good to see you're okay, little mate..." He said with a hoarse, painful whisper. "That's a relief..."

"B-Buck?" Kiddo said lowly and carefully tiptoed up to the snake. "A-are you alright? You're not gonna die, are you?"

Buck let out a hopeless chuckle. "Ya know I can't understand a word of what you're yapping about, Kiddo, but if ye asking about how I feel then I feel like I just got in a blue with a kangaroo on steroids..." He chuckled again, but this time the chuckle turned into a painful coughing fit. Kiddo felt his heart skip a beat when he saw bloodstains hit the floor. "Make it into a whole band of bodybuilding kangaroos..."

Kiddo was quiet for a few beats. "Buck..." He said after a while and hung his head low. "Y-you saved me..." He felt tears burn behind his eyelid and buried his face in his arm. "You saved me!" He repeated with a sob.

Buck grinned faintly and weakly wrapped his tail around the little shaking cub and brought him closer in a hug. "I'm not sure what ya just said, but if it is what I think it was then; no worries, Kiddo. I told ya I'd take care o'ya!" The cub buried his face into the rugged scales of the snake and threw his arms around him, or at least as far as they could reach. Buck couldn't help but to chuckle once again. "Don't worry, little ankle biter... She'll be 'right, ya see..." If he had the strength to move, he would've coiled his entire body around the little cub, but he could slowly feel all of his energy drain as the pain coursed through his body. Maybe everything wouldn't be alright after all... Suddenly his brows were pushed into a frown as he heard the cub mumble something to himself. The snake tilted his head so he could see the cub with one eye and focused while trying to make out any possible words out of that mumbo-jumbo language.

"Great Mother, I don't know what I've done wrong for you to do these things to me, but please don't let Buck suffer for it! He's a kind man, err snake, and he doesn't deserve to die! Not for saving my life! Great Mother, I'm willing to change, just tell me what it is I need to make up for and I'll do it! I'll do anything! Just..." Kiddo said and slowly lifted his head away from the snakes scales. "Please, don't let Buck die!"

"And what makes you think the Great Mother would be listening to someone like you?" Tip appeared in the doorway, his arms were crossed as he watched the hyena cub and the snake with a scowl on his drenched face.

Kiddo flinched and began to tremble with fear again. "I.. I don't know... I-I was just thinking... I-it never hurts to try, right?"

"The Great Mother doesn't even exist, how have you NOT gotten that into your head by now?"

Kiddo frowned. "S-She DO exist! I... I see Her every day even! She speaks to the Elders! She...!" He was interrupted by a snarl from the captain and immediately shut up. He pressed his ears to his neck and covered among Bucks coils.

"Just get out!" The fox barked at the cub.

Kiddo didn't want to risk anger Tip even further, so despite Bucks "Hey!", he crawled out of Bucks coils and ran as fast as he could on the rocking floor, back to 'his' storage room. Tip watched as the cub ran off and when he turned his head back to Tip, he was met with an angry frown from the snake.

"Ya sure have a hand with kids, don'tcha cap'n?" Buck said dryly and earned a snort in reply from Tip.

"Ya know I don't even like kids, yet you even risk yer life to save one measly cub, who's gonna grow up to be nothin' but a plantation slave anyway..." Tip slowly shook his head. "Why?"

"Because we've taken everything away from the poor little bugger! The least we can do is to try and make his life liveable until..." The snake got interrupted by a violent coughing attack that made his entire body jerk with pain. When the coughing ended, the snake fell to the ground, limp with exhaustion and a thin stream of blood ran down from the corner of his mouth. He panted heavily and grunted in pain every time he moved. "Give it to me straight, cap'n; I'm a goner, aren't I?" He said, his voice was hoarse with pain.

Tip hesitated, before replying with a nod. "Yeah. If we could get ya to a doc right away, maybe you could make it. But this storm ain't showing any signs of calming down..." Buck chuckled dryly and turned his head to the door. "I'm sorry Buck... Wished there were something we could do..."

"She'll be right, cap'n." The snake glanced up at the snake with one of his round, giant, dark eyes. "But I've got one last request however..."

"It's about the kid, isn't it?"

"Yeah, can you promise me one that you won't lock Kiddo up with the others..." Buck paused to wince in pain as he tried to move his head up in a more comfortable position, but had to give up. "And promise me that you'll make sure that he gets to a good home, with good people? That he's not bought by blokes like the Jacksons, the Aventines, the Myrtens or any other bastards like them..." The snakes voice trailed off until it was nothing more than a whisper. He felt too exhausted and weak to even speak, so he closed his eyes and didn't see when Tip nodded.

"It's a promise, old friend..." The fox said lowly in response.

Buck chuckled faintly. "Thanks, mate... You're a real ripper sometimes..." The snake let out another, probably his last, deep sigh. "Well, at least I got to die out at sea for saving someone else..." He said with a faint smile. "Guess the only regrets I got is that I didn't kiss that pretty sheila from Brisbane..."

"Wanna see the kid one last time?" Tip asked and let his arms, that up until now had been folded across his chest, fall to his sides.

"Nah... I don't think he should see me like this now... Poor little bugger, I think he's more scared than what I am..."

"So, should I leave ya alone then?"

"That would be the best..." Buck closed his eyes. To talk loud enough for Tip to hear him was draining his energy faster, but what was the point in delaying the inevitable. "See ya around, mate..."

Tip turned back to the door. "Yeah... See ya around, Buck..." He said while walking out, leaving the dying snake alone in the storage room.

The storm was still raging on outside, rocking the ship back and forth while the sky seemed to unleash all it's anger over the ship and her crew. Kiddo was hiding behind a corner when Tip walked out from the room. The fox hung his head low and seemed sad over something, Kiddo instantly knew it was about Buck.

"Uh... C-captain?" He asked carefully and poked his head out from the corner. Tips head snapped to the side and his angry eyes burned, making Kiddo timidly take a step back. "I-is Buck... gonna be alright?"

"No..." Tip answered without skipping a beat. "He's badly wounded and won't survive for that much longer..." Kiddo felt the tears return and he dug his short claws into the murky wood.

"W-what?"

"He knows his time is up, and he's accepted it. He doesn't wanna be disturbed right now. In fact, you should scurry back and hide" The fox narrowed his eyes at the cub in a spiteful glare before he turned back to the stairs. "I wouldn't show myself to the crew either, if I were you. None of them will take Bucks death that well. Especially not since it was all thanks to you!"

The captains last sentence felt like a punch in the gut to the cub, and he literally could feel himself draw a gasp. Tip returned to the top deck and began ordering the crew around again, while Kiddo stood still on the same spot for several minutes, before he turned back to the storage room he had inhabited since their departure. He walked slowly and in silent, making the short path feel very long.

While on the other side of the door, he found that his barrel had gotten loose and was rolling around as the ship tossed and turned on the wild waves. He managed to stop the barrel and turn it upright before he climbed in and buried his face in one of the blankets. It smelled like tar, seawater and molt, but he didn't care about that now. Tips words echoed in his ears.

"_None of them will take Bucks death that well... Especially not since it was all thanks to you!... It's all your fault!"_ Kiddo heard another familiar voice join Tips, and he felt his throat tighten up once again. _"You killed him! It's all your fault! I hate you! I hate you and I'll kill you! You hear me?! I'LL KILL YOU!" _He sobbed into the old blanket as his sisters shrill voice joined in on the guilt trip.

He had killed their father, and now he had killed Buck. What ever it was that he had done to anger the Great Mother like this, it must have been bad. She wouldn't even tell him what it was, and since when had she been the one to hold a grudge and punish innocent like this?!

Kiddo sniveled and wiped his eyes with the back of his arm. He just wanted to get back home and feel the soft, leafy ground of the jungles once again. He wanted to meet his sister again and apologize, he wouldn't even care if she killed him afterward, just as long as he didn't die on this boat in the middle of the sea. Like the others...

While the storm raged on, the captain was handing out orders to left and right and the cub was seeking comfort in his loneliness, Buck drew one last, troubled breath. _Good luck, Kiddo.._ Were his final thoughts as he finally felt his consciousness slip away and get replaced by the never ending darkness. But even though he was at the very brink of death, he still had a smile on his lips. _You're a good kid... I've always wished I had an ankle biter of my own... Someone just like you..._

**Because I thought: "Hey, why not have a tragic death of another beloved character?! Haven't had one of those in a while!"**

…

**I just won the award for the worst human being in history, haven't I o_o? *Oh, don't mind me, I'm just having the guilt trip of my life***

**But don't worry, mates! Look at the bright side: there won't be any more deaths like these from now on :D! At least not for a while...**


	7. The Aventines

**Gee, I still feel awful for killing off both Mwindaji AND Buck... ;_;**

**Oh well, the good part is that now there won't be anymore deaths like these, at least not for a while x)!**

**Stony: Wow, you really wanna write a one-shot for Buck O_O? Omfg, that would be BEYOND awesome :D! If you do get the time then go ahead, I'd LOVE to read it ;D!**

***** Chapter Seven : The Aventines *****

The tavern down in Mobile Docks were still open and booming with activity, even though it was in the middle of the night. Everyone was too busy drinking, fighting or flirting with the painted ladies to even notice the red fox that entered the facility. He stopped and looked around at the other guests and found who it was he was searching for, sitting by the bar. With quick, determined steps, the fox made his way to the bar and sat down next to the lanky, scruffy looking golden tamarin monkey.

"I expected you here two days ago, Tip..." The tamarin said while sipping on a half-full pint of beer.

"Sorry about that, Timothy. We were blown out of course by that storm..." Tip responded and stared blankly ahead of him.

"Yeah, I thought so... It was a pretty nasty one, wasn't it?"

"Ya have no idea! Half of the first mast broke off by the middle and crushed Buck. He's sleepin' with the fishes now..."

That got Timothy to actually turn his head and look at Tip with a surprised look on his face. "The snake? That's a pity, I actually liked that bloke!" The tamarin turned back to his beer. "He had a great sense of humor!"

"Yeah, and he was one of the best damn men I've ever met" The fox captain mumbled and waved off one of the bartenders, just as he was going to ask him if he wanted to order something. "Enough of that now, though. I managed to get a batch unnoticed ashore, I've got a feeling this is a pretty good batch!"

"Whaddya got?"

"Oh y'know, the usual; a couple of sandcats, lizards, wild dogs, a lioness, meerkats, four hyenas..." He paused and grimaced. "One of them is a cub though..."

"A hyena cub?"

"Yeah, one of the Brown Ones"

Timothy snorted and scratched his temple with a long, boney finger. "People don't want brown hyenas anymore, they figured out that it's those striped bastards that works the best. They don't question, don't complain and they don't like to put up a fuss..." He flicked away a flea that got stuck underneath his nail and took a gulp from his tall glass. "Brown hyenas are natural born troublemakers, y'know!"

"Yeah, we noticed that..." Tip mumbled. _If it weren't for him, Buck wouldn't have been so stupid that he'd get himself squished like a bug..._

"How many are they?"

"Well, we set sail with 57..."

"And now?"

"45" Tip shrugged. "Could've been worse, actually! I thought a lot more of them would go!"

The monkey snorted again. "45 in a ship built for 200?"

"Yeah, so? Listen, Tim, if ya would've given us more time we could've...!"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya! The spotted mutts aren't too fond of their job, eh?" Timothy interrupted the fox with a wave of his hand and jumped down from the bar-chair. "Let's see what you got for me this time, eh Tip?"

…

During the two days it had taken for the ship for arrive in the town after have been blown out of course by the storm, Kiddo had grown more and more jumpy and introvert. But that was kinda understandable, seeing as the entire crew seemed to blame the cub for Bucks death. Everyone except for Juno, that is. If it hadn't been for the teenage wolverine, nobody would've bothered with going down below deck with food for the cub.

"I don't think it's your fault, Kiddo." Juno had said once. "And I don't think Buck would have risked his life like that if he really didn't want you to make it. Wonder what he'd say to the others if he found out what they thought about you now?"

Kiddo didn't leave the storage room, not even if he wanted to he would go back up on the deck. Not after what happened to Buck. So when Tip sent Juno to go and get the cub in the middle of the night, Kiddo was sure it was because the captain wanted to punish him. To his suprise, Tip hardly even looked at him after the young wolverine had retrieved him. Instead they put him in shackles once again and put him in a longboat along with several of the other slaves. Further away in the dark night, they could see the lights from a town flickering. Kiddos heart picked against his ribs as he pressed himself to the back of the boat, careful to not fall down into the pitch black ocean.

Biton was in the same boat and the Spotted hunter looked just as awful as Kafeel had done, the main difference was their eyes: while Kafeels eyes had been blank, as if his soul had vanished, Bitons eyes were still fierce underneath the black, disheveled bangs, and he glared at the crew with so much spite and hatred that even Tip reacted. In fact, the only two who still showed signs of defiance was Biton and Diata, a young female of the Simba people; a lioness. But then again, Simbas were known for being the proudest people in the world, so it wasn't to any surprise that she refused to submit to the strangers.

Three longboats were required to transport all the slaves to the town and when they arrived there, they were taken to a large, empty warehouse by the docks. And there they were kept and guarded by the crew, except for those few who were told to stay and guard the ship, while Tip left. He didn't tell them where he was going, and he didn't need to, since everyone already knew he was leaving to find Timothy Meaher, a very wealthy shipper, underground slaver and Tips boss since fifteen years back.

Tip returned after an hour or two with Timothy, an old and very spindly looking golden tamarin. The slaves were ordered to stand up in two orderly lines, the males in one and the females in another, even if there were some who hardly had the strength to stand anymore. Tim instantly walked up to Jaramogi, the Striped One, and gripped his chin between two boney fingers. Jaramogi shuddered by the touch of the monkeys cold fingers and did a weak attempt to yank his head back, but the other one wouldn't let go.

"Tip, get over here will ya?" Tim said with a displeased frown and Tip did as he was asked. When the captain had arrived next to him, he turned Jaramogis head to the side and used two fingers on his free hand to part the fur on the Striped Ones neck. "Explain this!"

Kiddo had to lean forward to see past the critters that stood between him and Jaramogi, and gasped when he saw what Tim had spotted the instant he had seen the Striped One; a long slice stretched from his jaw down to his throat. It was probably just a few days old and didn't look especially deep, but the tool that had been used had left the wound with jagged ends and therefore harder to heal. Tip sighed and shook his head.

"During the storm a lantern broke in the cargo, this guy managed to get a hold on one of the glass shards n' try'na finish himself off. Luckily one of the cabin boys spotted him n' managed to stop him before he could finish what he started." The fox said with a nod at the wound and Tim grimaced in annoyance as he let go.

"A suicidal one, eh? They're always the worst..." He spoke while he continued to inspect the rest. "Do you have any idea how many that's been complaining to me when their property hangs themselves? Or finds a gun and offs themselves like that? Well, what do they want me to do?! Bring it back to life?! It's like buying a horse and then complain to the breeder when the horse falls and breaks its leg!" He stopped when he came up to Kiddo and glared down at the cub. Kiddo averted his eyes to avoid eyecontact with the monkey and tried to take a few steps back, but the chains stopped him. "Is this the kid ya told me about?"

"Yeah..." Tip said with a low voice and a short nod. "They call him Kiddo"

Tim didn't reply, instead he knelled down to the cubs height and grabbed a fistful of his thick, dark brown hair, forcing the cub to look up. Kiddos scared and widened red eyes met Tims stern, dark brown ones and he felt his heartrate pick up in fear. Fear for what the strange monkey would do to him!

"How old do ya think he is?" Tim asked Tip as he proceeded with inspecting the cub and search for any damages.

"I dunno..." Tip said with a shrug. "Possibly seven-eight years old perhaps..."

"Tsk tsk tsk..." Tim shook his head sadly and used his thumb to pry Kiddos mouth open and study his teeth. "Why do you keep getting me these young'uns? No one wanna cough up several hundred bucks for a kid! They can hardly work on the fields and lifting heavy stuff in this young age will just ruin their bodies as adults and shorten their life expectancy! Besides, if people needs young blood in their stock they'll just let their adults fix a couple of kiddies for free!"

While the tamarin was giving the check-up, Kiddos fear went over in annoyance, especially when he began digging around in his ears to look for mange. Kiddo yanked his head away from the monkey with his ears flattened to his neck and growled lowly. Tim first looked at the cub with a funny look on his face, surprised that he actually dared to bare his fangs at him. But then he returned the growl and quicker than Kiddo had expected it, he had thrown a hard slap straight across the cubs face. He would have preferred to use the entire fist, but if he did he would've caused the cub damages and possibly knock out a few teeth. That would definitely affect the cubs already low value!

Kiddo staggered back in surprise and when the pain hit he curled up into a whimpering, shuddering ball and covered his face with his hands, peeking at the monkey through his fingers. His cheek throbbed and he felt tears coming to his eyes. Adila, the other Brown One from the neighboring village, instantly tried to take a few steps towards the cub, but the chains that connected her with other females stopped her from moving without dragging the others along.

"Only a coward would hit a cub!" She growled and yanked the chain. "Face ME instead, you weak waste of flesh!"

Tim pulled the cub back on his feet and ignored the scared whimper he made when he began to search through the hair and mane for any possible fleas or other vermin. "Did that female just insult me?" He asked Tip without moving his attention from the thick mess of bangs.

"Yeah, she just called you a coward for hitting a cub, n'a weak waste o'flesh" The fox nodded. "Hyenas are very caring for their n'others cubs, y'know..."

"Well, someone's gonna teach him not to show his fangs at his masters. A slap is a very lite punishment for that! I know several people who ain't afraid of using the whip when dealing with these guys! And you better tell that female to NOT insult her superiors, it MIGHT cost her dearly!" The tamarin answered with a nonchalant shrug and stood up. Finally free from his tormentor, Kiddo managed to back a couple of steps and ran a hand through his hair where the monkeys cold, boney fingers had been digging around.

Kiddo then watched how the monkey went through both lines of slaves, checking them through just like he had done with him. When he was done, both him and Tip withdrew and began discussing.

"I'll be honest with ya here, Tip. I ain't all too pleased with this batch, they look awful!" Tim showed with a motion of his hand at the two lines of slaves. "They're malnourished, filthy and except for the hyenas and the lioness, they look weak. In fact, the only one here in reasonably good condition is the cub. Won't expect to get much for them on the auction tomorrow, but I'll take them all!"

Tip did a mental wipe of his forehead and sigh in relief. "Great. There's just one thing though, about that kid..." He threw a quick glance at the cub in question before turning back to the puzzled slaver. "I promised Buck to not let him end up with just anyone. I wanna be there on the market tomorrow, just to make sure not one of the crueler ones buy him. Sorry Tim, but it was a promise to Buck n' I intend to keep it!"

Tim rolled his eyes and held up his hands. "Fine! Just don't embarrass us on the stage, okay?"

…

Kiddo and most of the slaves couldn't get any rest for the remainder of the night. They all knew something was going to happen to them the next day, but they didn't know what. And it was that uncertainty that made them all anxious and fearful.

Kiddo wanted to keep his distance from the others, so he lied curled up in a corner of the room he and the females were kept in. Adila tried to talk to him, but he shut her out by covering his ears, that were still sore from the rough handling by the slaver, and hide his face in his knees. Eventually Adila got the point and with a sigh she withdrew to the others.

The next day, captain Tip and the Clotildes crew had to put up the facade of being merchants during the day, while Tim gathered up the slaves. He tried to make them look presentable for the upcoming auction by washing off the worst grime really quick with seawater directly from the docks.

When the morning came, Kiddo noticed that they hadn't been the only slaves in the warehouse; at least fifteen more females were in the same room and when Adila noticed another Brown One among them, she made a happy gasp and rushed up to the stranger. She tried to talk to her, but only got a puzzled frown in reply; the other Brown One female couldn't understand her! Neither could any of the other females, or any of the other males they later encountered.

The market would take place later in the afternoon, so Tim wasn't expecting anyone to arrive earlier. But while he was inspecting the wound on Jaramogis throat, trying to come up with a way to conceal it, two men entered the warehouse; one bulky built mountain lion, chewing on a cigar, and one slightly taller and thinner wild dog. When Tim didn't notice their arrival, the mountain lion cleared his throat, making the lanky tamarin jump in surprise.

He quickly turned around and his dark eyes widened at the sight of the two men. "W-wha...!? G-Gabriel?!" His surprised face was quickly turned into wide, toothy grin and he threw his arms out in a welcoming gesture. "Gabriel! It's been a while, haven't it?! How ya been keeping?!"

Gabriel shrugged with his wide shoulders. "Well ya know, ts'been a lot these last months, especially now when two old guys gave in"

"Ah, and now you're looking for replacements, huh?"

"Yeah, got anything cheap? I'm on a budget..."

"Woah there!" Tim held up his hands in front of him and shook his head. "You're too early, my friend! The auction ain't until this afternoon!"

"I ain't got the time to participate there! I gotta to be home by t'morrow since Jasper from the Green Hill plantation is comin' over to discuss business, an' I gotta catch the train that leaves in two hours!"

"Whoah, I get it! No need to get your whiskers in a twist, Gabriel!" The tamarin chuckled and glanced over at Jaramogi. "You wanted someone cheap, right?" He grabbed the young striped hyena by his shoulders and pushed him forward to the mountain lion. "This one's half price since he's got a rather nasty looking gash on his throat, but other than that he's just fine! Young, healthy, strong, quiet..."

"How did he git the gash?" Gabriel cocked an eyebrow at Tim. "I never thought ya was the one to cause damages like this to the ones for sale?"

Tim flinched at the question and hesitated. "I, uh... Well, Tip arrived with these guys last night, and he told me this guy did it to himself with a glass shard from a broken lantern..."

Gabriel frowned. "So he's one of those?" He threw a skeptical glance at the confused and lightly scared striped hyena. "Then it's a no. Don't want someone who's capable of cuttin' his own throat runnin' 'round on the farm. What's yer cheapest male, except for this?"

The tamarin rubbed the stubby beard on his chin while he thought. "Well, I've got a spotted hyena, though something in his eyes tells me he might put up a lot of trouble, a meerkat with a slight limp, then there's a brown hyena cub..."

"A cub, huh? An' one of those who died was a brown hyena too... How old is he?"

"Tip guessed about seven or eight, but there's this thing... Well..." The monkey hesitated. "Tip wouldn't be happy with me if I sold him to you right now..."

The mountain lion frowned once again. "An' why not?"

"Ah, you see, he promised a dying friend of his to make sure that the cub gets to a good home, and Tip made it very clear that he wanted me to wait for him until I sell the little bugger!"

The mountain lion didn't answer for a while. He stood there silent with a frown between his brows, until he stuck his hand in his pocket and waved a bundle of dollar bills in front of the tamarin monkey. His eyes widened at the sight of the amount. "Ya won't get this much for him on the auction later, Tim."

"B-but you haven't even seen him yet? He's puny and...!"

"I don't care, I need another farmhand an' if that kid is the cheapest one ya got then I'll take 'im! Look, I'm even payin' ya extra!" The monkey hesitated to grab the money, but it was obvious that his long, spindly legs were itching, and it made the mountain lion sigh impatiently. "I'm on a very tight schedule an' I ain't got all day!"

He had barely finished the sentence before Tim yanked the bundle out of Gabriels hands, counted the money and gave the plantation owner a funny look before extending his thin hand. "It's a deal! Pleasure making business with you, Mr Aventine!" He said as his face once again cracked up in a wide grin.

…

Later that afternoon, an auction was held in the warehouse. It was crammed with wealthy people in need of an extra farmhand or similar, in front of a great podium that stood at the far end. On the podium, behind a table sat two men, one was dealing with the paperwork and receipts while the other one auctioned out the slaves that were being brought up on the podium. Rapidly rambling the prize and noted whenever a potential buyer raised his hand, then he raised the prize and hoped that someone else would reach up their hand at the offer. When the hands stopped rising he quickly counted to three before slamming a club into a wooden tile, creating a deafening slam to seal the purchase.

Tip entered the warehouse almost an hour after the bidding had begun and found Tim standing in the background, contentedly rubbing his palms. At the sight of the fox captain making his was towards him he stopped rubbing his palm so frenetically and simply gave Tip a thumbs up.

"You have no idea how surprised I am, Tip!" The tamarin monkey said excitedly when Tip placed himself next to him. "I've already sold five of the ones you brought me, and that spotted hyena male actually gave me over three big ones!"

Tip didn't reply. He stood silent and watched the line with slaves, waiting for their turn to get dragged up on the scene. Just as a sandcat female was clubbed he turned his eyes to Tim. "Where's the kid?" He asked straight forward with a solemn tone in his voice.

Tim flinched. "T-the kid? You mean that little cub?" He chuckled nervously and began to twiddle with his thumbs. "Um, I know you told me to wait until you returned... But you see, this man came in this morning, he was in quite a hurry and really needed someone to replace the two slaves he lost..."

"God damn it, Tim..." Tip mumbled and gritted his fangs. "Oh well, who was it then? Who bought him?" The monkey hesitated before mumbling something incoherent. "What?"

"Gabriel Aventine" Tim repeated a bit louder.

Tips ears flattened to his neck. "The Aventines? Ye sold the cub to the Aventines, out'o all people?"

"Hey, do you have any idea how much I got for that little mangy thing!? Way more than I would've gotten for him here!" Tim said with a shrug. "I know, I know! The Aventines are known for having overseers that are rather fond of their whips, but personally I think that the Aventine treatment is just what that cub needs! Look at this!" He shoved one of his boney fingers into Tips face. It had a clear bite mark around the middle phalanger. "We had to be TWO to get that brat on the train! Seeing the train made him go ballistic and he even bit me! I really hope Mr Aventine and his men teaches that whelp a lesson or two! Who knows what kinds of diseases he might spread by biting people?! I swear my finger is thicker than the other! Better get this to a doctor, as soon as the auction is over of course!"

But Tip had stopped listening to the monkey a long time ago, all he could do was to silently shake his head and try to block out Tims ramblings. _I'm sorry, Buck. I really am..._

…

Kiddo sat in the corner of the dark trailer with his arms around his knees and blankly staring down at the floor. The sound of the trains wheels running over the metal rail and a steady, rythmic _thump_ was the only thing that was heard. The locomotive in front was coughing up thick black clouds of smoke and that mixed with the strange scent of the javelina, a smaller warthog-like critter that was sharing the trains trailer along with Kiddo, was stinging in the little cubs nose.

When he saw a train for the first time in his life, his initial reaction had been fear. What he saw was a big, black dragon, panting like it just had crossed three mountains in one night and spewing out black smoke from it's elongated nose. Kiddo had stopped dead in his tracks and stared like paralyzed at the monster. When the wild dog tried to push him forward to enter the monster, his mind had gone blank and he began to struggle to get free and away from the terrible creature who threatened to gobble him up. Eventually Tim had been forced to join in and accidentally got bit by the terrified cub.

Kiddo was still afraid, but now he had realized it wasn't a monster; it was some sort of machine. But that didn't stop his heart from racing, or stop him from flinching and whimper in fear every time someone pulled the whistle. He had never been wanting to go home as much as he did right then. What he wouldn't give to once again inhale all the scents of the jungle, or feel the leafy, soft ground underneath his feet. Or climb around in the trees and play catch with his sister. And what he wouldn't give to see his father again...

Suddenly a door that linked the wagon with the one before was opened and the wild dog trotted in, carrying a steaming bowl of soup. The scent of food got Kiddos ears to perk and he carefully looked up at the wild dog. The black, white and yellow hunter looked older close up, and a piece of cloth was wrapped around his head, hiding his ears. He kneeled down in front of the cub and held out the bowl.

"Here, I figured you'd be hungry by now" He said, that was the first thing Kiddo had ever heard him say. "Take it, I had to bribe the ol' lady in the kitchen to git my hands on this!" Kiddo looked from the bowl and then up at the dogs face before he carefully accepted the bowl.

The scent made his empty belly rumble loudly and he took a cautious sip. It tasted weird, and it had weird lumps in it, but it was still the best thing he had tasted in over two months and it didn't take long until he had emptied the entire bowl. He held out the bowl, pleading for more, but the dog shook his head and took it.

"Sorry, that's it. But don't worry, once we're home I bet granny's gonna feed ya with ev'rythin' we've got left!" He frowned at the puzzled tilt of the head he got from Kiddo. "Ya don' understand a word o' what I'm sayin' to ya, no?" He took Kiddos continued silence as a 'no' and stood up to return the bowl to the kitchen.

Kiddo watched as the dog, whom he still didn't know the name of, walked back out through the door and when the door slammed behind him, Kiddo turned his eyes back to the floor. His eyelids grew heavy as the last couple of days of poor sleep was catching up on him, and with food back in his belly, he felt even more weary and worn out. He eventually fell asleep, lulled by the rhythmic thumping sounds of the train and the steady chewing from the javelina, eating whatever scraps it could dig up from the straw floor.

Not until the train arrived at it's destination early the next morning did he wake up. When the train came to a loud, screeching halt at the station, Kiddo slowly let his eyes flutter open, only to become instantly wide awake when the big door on the trailers side slid open from someone on the inside; the wild dog had been spending the night by sitting half-asleep in another corner of the wagon.

Kiddo and the javelina was led out into a street, not nearly as massive as the ones in Mobile, but still pretty impressive. The cub instinctively tried to hide behind the wild dog when a stagecoach pulled by two roadrunners, passed them at a high speed. The wild dog rolled his eyes and ignored the cub. He was going to have to get used to this sooner or later.

The javelina was strapped in front of a wagon with two rows with passenger seats in front, that had been kept in another trailer and so their journey continued on. On the two rows in front was the dog, who drove and from what Kiddo had heard his name was Chuck, and behind him sat the strange cat-like man. His eyes had the same deep, blueish green color as the ocean had at a calm, clear day. But instead of having the wondrous and curiosity-sparking effect on Kiddo as the sea had, they striked fear and uneasiness into the young cub, making him cover every time his new master looked at him.

Kiddo was sitting in the back on the lorry with a rope tied from his neck in a loop, to a metal ring in front, to keep him from jumping off and run off somewhere. But that proved to be unnecessary, as the first half hour of the trip had actually been interesting for the young cub, as he with perked ears and sparkling eyes studied the landscape they passed and was mesmerized by the rapidly rotating wheels. But after an hour or so, the cub was bored out of his mind, and the uneasy feeling his masters presence gave him kept creeping back.

After what felt like an eternity, they had finally reached their destination. Kiddo couldn't help but to stare at the sigh in front of him; a pathway with light colored pebbles passed in an alley between two rows of big, green, lush trees. The path led all the way up to the biggest and most pompous building he had ever seen in his life. The building was bright white with pillars in front and a giant porch, clearly standing out against the emerald green grass. Thick, dark green bushed decorated the entire lawn and a white picket fence separated the garden from the road. The colors green and white were blinding!

Mr Aventine had just climbed down from the wagon when a bloodcurdling screech was heard. "DADDY! HELP!" Seemingly out of nowhere, a young girl in a blue dress appeared and threw her arms around the surprised mans leg. She seemed to be about Kiddos age, had the same grayish yellow color on her fur as her father, and her long, red hair was kept in place by a big, girly bow on top of her head. And she was completely covered from top to toe in mud.

Her father staggered back. "What the...?"

"GIT BACK 'ERE YA LITTLE" After the girl came a young cheetah female running, but she came to a screeching halt when she saw that Mr Aventine had returned. She quickly patted out her black skirt, which she had been forced to lift to be able to run after the little girl. "Oh, M-Mr Aventine sir, y-you're back!" She said staggering and tried on a welcoming smile.

"What's goin' on 'ere, Lucy?" Mr Aventine said to the cheetah with a cocked eyebrow.

"She wanna drown me, daddy!" The little girl exclaimed and buried her muddy face in her dads clean, crème colored pants.

"What?! No!" Lucy, the cheetah, quickly said and a faint flush was visible on her golden cheeks. "Little Miss Cornelia was found playin' 'round in the creek an' Mrs Grace told me to give her a bath right this instant!"

"Then why aren't ya bathin' 'er?"

"That's what I was tryin' to do, sir! But she just won't cooperate!"

Gabriel sighed and rolled his eyes as he tried to pry his daughter away from his leg. "Cornelia, for heavens sake..."

"No, I don't believe in heaven, daddy! I'm an atheist!"

"You're too young to be an atheist!" With a final yank, he freed his leg from his muddy daughter and handed her over to the maid.

"Traitor!" Cornelia hissed at her dad and tried to free herself from the cheetahs grip. Mr Aventine ignored his daughter and turned back to the wagon, where Chuck was trying his best to hold back a snicker as he watched the cheetah drag the impossible little girl back to the house.

"Chuck, take the kid back, an' tell Ama that I want him out on the field the day after tomorrow" Gabriel ordered. Chuck grimaced and opened his mouth to protest, but quickly shut it again. Instead he nodded and muttered another low 'yes, sir' and made the javelina go forward again.

Kiddo stared as long as he could on the cheetah. He had only heard stories about that fast and cunning people, but never actually met one. He never thought that he'd meet one of these legendary spotted loners in THIS place! And judging from those thick, black stripes on Lucys neck, she might even be a King Cheetah! And they were like the Descendants of the Bouda people; especially powerful and said to be a descendant of the first cheetahs. But why on Earth would a King Cheetah be doing here?!

They continued on the dusty road until they reached a not-so-stunning village-like area, separated from the Aventines household by a tall, impenetrable wooden fence. The houses were dusty and small, and some even had holes in the roof. The grass that grew here had a more sickly, yellowish tone and when the road turned and continued between the houses, curious faces was turned to the wagon for a few beats. Some even greeted Chuck before continuing with whatever chores they had to do.

"Chuck!" A females voice made both Chuck and Kiddo jump in surprise as a young Spotted One ran up to the wagon and trotted to keep up with them. Kiddo instantly and instinctively withdrew upon seeing the young hyena girl with thick, black and spiky hair and mane. Why did she have to be another Spotted One?

Her long, blue dress almost got tangled up in her legs and she kept up with the wagon, and her childlike large, red eyes beamed at Chuck. "Chuck! Ama told me ya an' Mister went away! Where did ya go!?" She asked curiously.

The old wild dog shrugged in response. "Here an' there. Mister Aventine had some business in Mobile, an' while he was there he got a replacement for ol' Sham an' Fiddler"

"Huh, a replacement?" The young Spotted female tilted her head curiously and turned her head back to the wagons lorry. Kiddo shuddered in fear when the Spotted One saw him and her round face was split by a gleeful grin.

She jumped up in the wagon and blinked curiously at the little frightened cub. "Hi! My name is Ellie!" She greeted and held out her hand at him. "What's yer name!?" Kiddo pushed his back against the side on the wagon and flicked his eyes from her face down to her hand, and then to her face again.

"It's no use, Ellie. He can't understand ya!" Chuck said with a sad sigh. "Tip just brought him 'ere from the wilderness, he doesn't speak English yet, an' he seems to be scared of everythin'! Even his own shadow!"

"Oooh!" Ellies eyes widened as she turned her head back to the cub. "So you're from way over there, huh? Africa, right?" She sat with crossed legs and leaned her elbows on her knees and rested her head on her hands as she curiously studied the cub. "What's it like over there? My big brother Finn always wanna to go back! We've never been there ourselves, of course, but our great grandfather was a prisoner of war back there! The lions had captured him an' sold him...!"

"Ellie, aren't ya gonna go bother Toby instead?" Chuck interrupted the overly excited hyenas rambling and glanced over his shoulder at her. "As ya usually do?"

"Nah!" She shook her head. "He's workin' on the field, an' if I go over there now Lasher might think I'm tryin'a escape or somethin'... He ALWAYS think I'm gonna run off b'cause of Finn!" She folded her arms and pouted. "But none of us is stupid 'nuff to do that an' Lasher knows it!"

"Lasher just want's a reason to bother anyone, y'know..." The wild dog muttered almost inaudibly and made the javelina come to a halt in front of the stable. "Ellie, can ya go in with the kid to Ama while I put Ecarg back in the stable?"

"Sure! No problems, Chuck!" She nodded, quickly untied the rope around Kiddos neck and jumped off the wagon, signing for the cub to follow her.

At first he hesitated, not sure if he should trust the Spotted One or not, but she didn't seem so bad. Actually, she seemed kinda nice! With a nervous whimper, he slowly made his way down to the dry grassy ground.

"C'mon, lil' guy! Ya don't have to be afraid of me!" Ellie giggled and took Kiddos hand, making the little cub stiffen in fear before he was dragged along behind her.

He had to run to keep up with her, until they got to a cabin slightly bigger than the others. A skull of some sort of bird, possibly one of those weird roadrunners, was nailed over the door frame and decorated with colorful flowery patterns. The macabre skull got Kiddos heart to skip a beat in fear, but Ellie didn't seem to mind it at all as she just bolted up the stairs and burst into the cabin, still dragging Kiddo along behind her.

They stopped in some sort of kitchen and Ellie was panting happily. "Granny?! Granny Ama, come quick! We've got a newcomer!" She called and after a while some shuffling about was heard in a nearby room, separated by a colorful shroud.

Kiddo took a careful step back when an old girdled lizard stepped through the veil and looked around before her eyes locked on the two young hyenas. She shook her head sadly and sighed. "Such a young one..." She whispered to herself before looking up at the hyenas again, this time smiling warmly. "Why, hello there! Welcome to the Aventine farm, little one!" She said, her old, raspy voice sounded kind and calm and got Kiddo to carefully perk his big ears. "Who's this then?"

"We don't know!" Ellie shrugged so her loose-fitted dress slipped down from one of her shoulders. "Chuck said he comes from Africa, so he hasn't been able to tell us his name yet!" She glanced down at him and petted him on top of his head, but upon contact Kiddo ducked and backed away from Ellie. "An' as ya can see, he's pretty much afraid of ev'rythin' an' ev'ryone!"

Ama flinched. "He's from...?" She stared at Kiddo in disbelief. "B-but he's so young! He can't have...? An' it's not...!" Her voice trailed off and her firey yellow eyes narrowed as she gritted her sharp teeth in anger. "Let me guess, it's Tips doin', ain't it?!"

Ellie shrugged again. "Might be?"

The old lizard balled her fist and turned her back against the two youngsters. "I'll be damned! Next time I see Mr Aventine I'll give him a piece or two of my mind, I tell you what!" She hissed, her sudden change of tone in her voice made Kiddo shiver. When Ama turned to the two young hyenas again, she saw the scared look on the young cubs face and her expression softened. "It's alright, I'm not mad at you!" She said and walked up to the hyenas and threw one scaly arm around each of them. "It's just those evil men I can't stand! But enough about that, I bet my scaly tail you're hungry, yes?"

Kiddo was surprised over the sudden kindness shown to him by these complete strangers. But then again, they were like him and not like the Strangers from the sea, or the other slavers. When the night fell, Kiddo was to sleep in the attic of Amas cottage, but his already disturbed sleep was interrupted when Amas angry voice coursed through the house. Chuck had delivered Mr Aventines message about the kid to her, and she had NOT approved of it. Knowing granny Ama, she would probably march right up to Mr Aventine and demand that the kid would get at least a month to settle in, seeing that he was still so young. And Mr Aventine would have to agree on it too, unless he wanted to get turned into something like a frog, or a zit on his wifes nose!

It took a while, but eventually Kiddo managed to fall back asleep on the old, dusty bed. But his dreams were unsettling. It was like a memory being repeated in his frontal lobe over and over; the memory of his father getting shot right in front of him was still haunting him. That, and the echo of the gunshot.

**Y'know, I feel utterly despicable for doing all these things to B, and just the fact that these kinds of things actually did occur back in the days sicken me... What have I created ;_;?**

**Oh well, on the bright side; in the next chapter we'll FINALLY get to know Corny ;D!**


	8. Welcome to the family!

**It's a bit late, I should have finished this chapter on Thursday but it took a lot longer time to write this than I first thought o.O... Anyway, the summer is almost here for me and that means CAMPING TRIPS :'D! MAN have I missed those! But of course, I'll also have more time for writing too ;)**

**But camping... Man, that's what I live for x)!**

***** Chapter Eight : Welcome To The Family! *****

"Hey! Wake up, little guy!" Ellie said as she happily skipped up the narrow, rickety staircase leading up to the attic. It was early in the morning, and Ellie had been given the mission to show the newcomer around. But to her surprise, he wasn't sleeping in the old, dusty bed in the corner of the attic when she reached the end of the stair. "Little guy?" She said and sneaked around, not seeing any signs of the little cub. "Ya don't have to be scared anymore, kid! We're a family 'ere, an' I bet ev'ryone has heard 'boutcha by an' are dyin' to meetcha!"

A faint rustling sound was heard underneath the bed and when Ellie bent down to look, she met the large, crimson eyes of Kiddo. She grinned, accidentally scaring him to crawl back further underneath the bed. She did a mental facepalm and a note to herself to not grin like a hungry wolf at the cub again. After a lot of persuasion and friendly words, she managed to convince the cub to come out, and follow her outside.

The slaves little 'village' looked a lot more cheerful in the daylight, even if the houses still looked close to condemned. Everyone they met all wore shaggy looking and worn out clothes, but they still happily greeted Ellie and Kiddo when they passed. Kiddo tried to hide behind Ellie when a full grown lion male walked past and nodded a short greeting to the two young hyenas.

She couldn't help but to laugh at the cub and step to the side. "Really? You're even scared of Church? Ya really are afraid of ev'rythin', ain'tcha?"

He really didn't understand much of what she said when she blabbered on and on about what would be his new home, but after a while he noticed that he wasn't as scared of her anymore and listened curiously to what she said. Not that many had the time to stick around and chat with the youngsters, but when they passed the washhouse, Kiddo suddenly noticed the cheetah female from yesterday, talking with two elderly meerkats by a big tub of water. He stopped, which made Ellie stop as well and when she noticed the cheetah her face beamed up in a new wide grin as she grabbed Kiddos hand and dragged him with her.

"Lucy!" She exclaimed happily and ran up to the cheetah and let go of Kiddos hand so she could hug her. "I thought they sold you off!"

The cheetah jumped in surprise before rolling her eyes and give the hyena a short hug back. "Well, they didn't, and this is the second time t'day I get randomly hugged by a little girl. Except that the first girl took the opportunity to steal my keys and hide 'em in the garden to punish me for bathing her against her will yesterday!"

Ellie pulled away and giggled. "Cornelia, huh? She's growin' up to be quite the troublemaker, is she?"

"Troublemaker? Hah!" Lucy snorted and folded her arms across her chest. "Try demonspawn!" Suddenly she spotted Kiddo standing a few steps behind them and nervously fumbled with his hands. "Hey, I know you! Didn't I see ya on the wagon yesterday?" Kiddo jumped when the cheetah suddenly spoke to him and looked at Ellie with a nervous and questioning look.

"Yeah, I saw him too yesterday" One of the meerkats agreed and looked curiously at the the cub, who began to feel uncomfortable with everyone suddenly staring at him like that.

Ellie nodded. "Mhm! He's new here! He arrived yesterday with Chuck!" Ellie nodded. "He doesn't speak English, however. And so far he's been terrified of ev'rythin' and ev'ryone we met!"

"Has he got a name, or should we just call him 'Hey, you!'?"

Ellie shrugged. "I dunno? He hasn't been able to tell us his name yet"

"Have you asked him?"

"Huh? Naah, not really actually..."

"See? How can he then know that ya wanna know his name, huh?" Lucy rolled her eyes a second time, this time with a low chuckle, and walked up to the cub. She kneeled down so she got in roughly about the same height as him. Kiddo tilted his head skeptically and took a careful step back, ready to run if the cheetah was going to do something bad to him. "So, hey there lil' guy!" She said, not sounding all that threatening actually. "Sorry if I startled ya, I work with the family in that big, pompous house" She pointed with her thumb at the huge wooden wall dividing them from the the Aventines residence. "So don't worry; ya won't have to see me that often. Only when I'm pickin' up an' leaving the laundry. I'm Lucy, by the way. Ya don't happen to have a name?" When Kiddo just gave her a confused stare and tilted his head to the other side, she pointed at herself. "Lu-cy" She said as clear as she could and then pointed at him.

Kiddo nodded when he realized that she was asking for his name and he opened hos mouth to answer her, but didn't say anything. He slowly closed his mouth again and earned a confused look from the others.

His name. He still couldn't remember his name. Everyone on the ship had called him Kiddo, but he knew that wasn't his real name. His face scrunched up as he tried to remember what it was and Lucy sighed and stood up from the ground. She was about to turn back to the laundry when Kiddo opened his mouth again. "Gone!"

She turned back to the cub with a raised eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Is gone!"

"Did he just say that his name is Gone, or that his name is gone, as in like, English, lost?" Ellie tilted her head and blinked in confusion.

Lucy shrugged, bent down again and pointed once more at herself, repeated her name, then pointed at Kiddo and asked: "Gone?"

Kiddo shook his head so his overdimensioned ears flapped. "Gone! Wamekwenda!" He threw his little arms out. "Gone!"

"I think he's lost his name?" Lucy sighed and stood up once again. "Poor lil' guy... I don't think he remembers his own name..."

Ellie frowned and folded her arms. "How can ya forget yer own name?"

"Amnesia perhaps?" The same meerkat that spoke before suggested, and earned a agreeing nod from the other meerkat.

"Yeah! I heard that a hard hit to the head can get ya to forget things!"

"Or somethin' real' bad an' traumatizin'..." The cheetah frowned sadly and shook his head. "He's straight outta the wild right?"

Ellie nodded. "Chuck told me he came with Tip just three days ago!"

"As I said; poor lil' guy... He's gotta been through some real shit b'fore he came here..." Lucy shook her head again and turned to the finished laundry, which had been strung up on a line to dry in the sun. "I think I should head back with this now, before they start to wonder why Miss Cornelia is all by herself..."

"An' we should continue! I'm showin' this lil' guy 'round t'day, since they want him to start workin' t'morrow!" Ellie stretched out her hand to ruffle the hair on Kiddos head, but he was frightened by the sudden motion from the spotted hyena and yanked his head away. Ellie shrugged. "But granny Ama thinks that's way too early for him. She's probably negotiating with Mr Aventine now an' tryin'a get him to give him a few extra days!"

"Oh, so THAT'S where she was going!" One of the meerkats said with a chuckle.

"Did ya see her leave?" The other one asked the first and frowned. "I didn't see anything!"

"Yeah, I saw her alright! Marchin' straight off to the residence with the wooden spoon in hand! Boy, Mr Aventine probably ain't even had his first cup o' coffee yet 'til Ama showed up and began wavin' the spoon 'round!" She chuckled. "That would'a been a sight for sore eyes!"

"Actually, I thought I heard her when I left to leave the laundry" Lucy piped in with an amused smile. "She sure didn't sound happy!"

…

Ellie and Kiddo continued for a while, but already by the stable they came to a short stop when a striped hyena, probably just above his twenties, come out from the stable. He didn't notice the two young hyenas, luckily, or else he would probably have had a heart attack from the look Ellie got when she saw him. She was trying to question Kiddo about his knowledge in English, but as soon as she spotted the Striped One exit the large stable with an empty bucket in his hand, her face cracked up in a huge, blushing smile and before Kiddo had registered what happened, she bolted. The Striped One just turned around and barely had the time to scream in fear before the younger hyena had thrown herself at him and wrapped her arms around his waist, knocking him out of balance and sending him sprawling to the ground. He lost the grip on the bucket, who fell out of his grip and rolled away.

"E-Ellie?!" The striped hyena exclaimed in fear and stared at the young female, who still had her arms wrapped around him and hugged him tight. "Ellie, w-what...?"

"I missed ya yesterday, Toby!" She said and nudged her face into his shirt. "Lasher ain't been too mean to ya now, has he?"

"W-what? L-Lasher? N-no, he ain't! Ellie, git offa me!" Toby, the Striped One, blushed and tried to pry the huggish girl away from him so he could get up on his feet again. "I-I got work to do! Or Lasher WILL be mean to me!"

She tightened her grip around him further and gave him a sly smile. "Say the magical word!"

Toby sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, DEAR Ellie could ya be so unearthly kind to please r'move yer arms from my torso b'fore I suffocate?"

"That'll do!" She nodded and let him, he immediately stood up and began to search for the bucket. "What're ya doin' 'ere in the stable anyway?"

"Huh? Oh, G-Gabby got sick last night" He said and picked up the bucket and made sure it hadn't gotten damaged. "Chuck a-an' Finn told me they would n-need my help t'day, s-since Gabby gits unruly when she has to b-be separated from Ecarg, a-and it's bad enough that they've been away from each other since last w-week!"

Ellie giggled and turned to the by now severely confused, Kiddo. "Gabby an' Ecarg are the two javelinas. We named 'em after our masters, Mr Gabriel an' Mrs Grace Aventine. Luckily, they haven't noticed!"

"Yet!" The striped hyena added with a mutter, causing the spotted female to roll her eyes.

"Why do ya always have to be so paranoid, Toby? It's not like they'll kill us for it!"

"T-they might! Y-ya never know with these people! I mean, y-you've heard what the Jaspers do to their slaves when they're unruly, right?" Toby paused and shuddered by the thought. "Electricity! Zap!"

"Yeah, yeah. But the Aventines ain't like the Jaspers, they'll just let Lasher do his job, an' all he got to work with is the whip!"

Toby snorted sarcastically. "Yeah, 'just the whip', woho! Lucky us!"

Ellie frowned. "Why do ya always have to be such a pessimist, Toby? You're makin' a hen out of a feather! Besides, basically the only one of us Lasher whips anymore is Finn..." She stopped and looked at the stables. "Speakin' of which, Finn is still in there, ain't he?"

"Yeah" Toby nodded. "B-but ya shouldn't go to him right now, him an' Chuck a-are tryin' to hold Gabby calm while I go an' fetch..." His voice trailed off as he realized he was supposed to fetch some water. "Oh great!" He winced and dashed towards the well further away.

Kiddo watched the striped hyena run with the metal bucked in his hand. "That's Toberon, but we all call him Toby" Ellie said, causing Kiddo to jumpin surprise and turned his head to her. "He's a bit skittish, stutters an' just like ya he's afraid of his own shadow, but I think he's really cute!" She added with a giggle and began to continue walking. "We're gonna git married one day! I just know it!"

Kiddo frowned and had to sprint to catch up with the young spotted female. _Married?_

They had been walking for a while, and she had showed him pretty much everything in the slaves quarters, but didn't dare to take him further out into the fields in case they would run into Lasher. Her shift at the cotton 'gin was about to start, and she was on her way to leave the cub back to granny when he suddenly stopped. She stopped as well and was about to ask him what was wrong when she saw that he was staring at the fence. A tall wooden wall, whose thick, sun-bleached boards isolated them from the Aventines garden, only the roof of their giant, white villa and the tops of the lush trees peeked up above the fence. On the slaves side, thick, thorny bushes grew.

"That's the wall" Ellie explained and Kiddo curiously turned his head to hear. "Behind that wall lives the Aventines, our masters."

"Lucy?"

"Yeah, her too! Lucy is one of those who lives an' work in the house. But she's still just a slave, just like the rest of us" She paused and looked around before she spoke again, this time in a lower voice. "I ain't sure what I think 'bout the Aventines. I mean, I guess they're good masters, they don't let us starve an' if we work hard an' well we might git some time off, but... But sometimes Mr Aventine is very cruel an' forces us to work even harder, an' they let their overseers do whatever they want with us! They seem to think it's fun to torture us! Finn, my brother, has been whipped more times than anyone 'ere! They call him disobedient an' a rebel, but he ain't! He's just braver than the rest of us, an' is the only one who dares to say no to the overseers, but they call it talkin' back an' that gives ten lashes from the one called Lasher. Lasher is the worst..." She shuddered and corrected the shoulderpiece on her oversized dress, which had slipped down slightly. "He's always lookin' for excuses to give us a hard time, an' I just know he hates me an' wanna hurt me! He hasn't whipped me yet, though. Finn won't allow it, an' always takes my place. Finn has always stood up for me against Lasher, but I guess that's what brothers are for, huh? I don't know what I would do without 'im..."

Kiddo noticed the sad tone in her voice and when Ellies shoulders slouched, he knew that whatever she was talking about made her sad for some reason. He hesitated before sneaking up to her and put a hand on her and smiled carefully. She replied by throwing both of her arms around him and pull him close in a hug. Kiddos eyes widened in momentary fear and his body stiffened, but then he allowed himself to relax and returned the hug.

"An' don'tcha worry, little one! I'll be yer big sister from now on, an' I won't let Lasher mess with ya either!" She said with a reassuring smile, but then she froze in fright and backed away, staring blankly at something behind Kiddo. "When speakin' of the devil..." She whispered almost inaudibly and gulped.

He turned around, afraid of what he would find, and saw a heavy built wolverine standing with his powerful arms folded across his chest. At first, Kiddo was reminded about Juno, who also had been a wolverine and wasn't too scared at first. But then he noticed the mean leer on this mans face, and Ellies badly concealed fear and realized that this wolverine maybe wasn't friendly like Juno. He had a threatening snarl on his face, revealing a whole lot of sharp teeth, the long, shabby fur seemed dusty and his shirt had a suspicious big, red stain on the chest, and the long whip he wore rolled up on his belt didn't do much to improve the image either.

"G-g'mornin', mister Lasher, sir..." Ellie carefully took a step back and fumbled after Kiddos hand. Her fear rubbed off on him and made him stagger back as well and hugged Ellies arm.

He bit his lip and stared wide-eyed at the wolverine. _Lasher?!_

"Mornin'?" Lasher growled and raised an eyebrow. "Ya still think it's mornin'? It's past noon already an' why ain'tcha workin'? If I r'member correctly, aren't ya s'posed to be workin' the first shift by th'Gin, eh?"

"Y-yes, sir. B-but granny Ama said I could take the mornin' off to show the new kid 'round." She hurried to answer and avoided eye-contact with the threatening overseer. "I-I was just 'bout to leave him with granny an' go to my shift. I-I'll work longer to make up for it! I swear!"

Lasher stopped snarling and straightened up, his bloodshot hazel eyes narrowed and an evil smirk appeared faintly at the corner of his mouth. "So, Ama told ya to take the mornin' off?"

"Y-yes, sir!"

"Too bad Ama ain't in charge 'round 'ere then! WE are!" The snarl returned and he loomed over the two, frightened cubs. "Ya should know by now that we don't tolerate any slackin' off! Not on this 'ere plantation, we don't!"

"I-I wasn't slackin' off, sir! I promise! I was just showin' this guy...!"

"An' who's this kid?!" Lasher suddenly turned to Kiddo, his eyes made Kiddo whimper and hide his face into Ellies arm. He really didn't like this guy! "How come I ain't seen him b'fore?!"

"B'cause he arrived yesterday, sir" Ellie placed a protective arm around the little cub. "Please, sir, you're scarin' him! W-we'll leave a-an' I'll go back to work, just stop scarin' him!"

"That's good! He needs to know who to respect! Unlike you an' that brother o' yers!"

Toby was on his way to the well for a second time, Gabby was drinking water like a sponge, when he saw the well known overseer walk up to the two cubs and shout at them for some reason. He came to a complete stop, stiffly turned around and walked as fast as he could back into the stables. The wild dog and another spotted hyena, about the same age as Toby himself, was leaning against the javelina sows pen and tried to figure out what was wrong when Toby marched up to them, obviously nervous about something.

"Back already, Toby?" Chuck raised an eyebrow. "Where's the water?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, t-the water..." The striped hyena looked down at the bucket before turning his head back at the two men. "C-can it wait? Finn, y-yer sister... I-I think she might be in trouble..."

The spotted hyenas ears perked and a frown appeared on his face. "Ellie? What's she done now?"

"I-I dunno!" Toby shrugged. "I-I saw Lasher walk up to her a-an' that new kid a-an' he seems royally pissed 'bout somethin'! I don't t-think she's done anythin' wrong though, i-it's just that Lasher is bein'... Well, Lasher!"

He had barely finished the sentence before Finn cursed something low to himself and brushed past the other hyena, marching straight out of the stables and didn't have to search long before he saw the wolverine harassing the two youngsters.

"I just think it's all VERY fishy" Lasher snarled lowly. "If the boss would've gotten a newcomer to the plantation, I'd be the first one to know! Then, how come I wasn't aware of him 'til now?"

"It ain't our fault that Mr Aventine failed to inform his overseers 'bout the new guy!" Finns sudden voice made Lasher twitch in annoyance and Ellie drew a deep sigh of relief. Kiddo carefully looked up from Ellies arm just as her brother walked up to them and placed himself protectively between them and the overseer. "We all know 'bout him by now, are ya sure ya ain't even heard 'bout it 'til now, sir?"

Kiddos grip around the female Spotted Ones arm tightened as he watched the new hyena. Not only was he a kinda creepy looking Spotted One, but he also reminded Kiddo of someone. Someone very bad. In fact, Finn looked a lot like a younger version of the Spotted One called Wasaki. And Wasaki had been the one who had tried to stop his father, and mocked him when he was weak. He immediately decided to not like this guy, even if he was Ellies brother!

"If I had known there was a new lil' pest 'ere, I wouldn't ask 'bout 'im now, would I?"

"Of course not, sir. But I hope ya don't mind me askin', whaddya want with Ellie? What's she done now?"

"She's s'posed to be down by th'Gin, but instead I find 'er slackin' off an' waltzing 'round with this so called 'new kid'." Lasher narrowed his eyes and bared his fangs at the slightly taller hyena. "An' ya know how much I hate it when ya lazy bastards frolic like we ain't got the slightest worry in the world"

"I-I weren't slackin' 'round, Finn!" Ellie protested and grabbed her brothers hand with her free one. "G-granny Ama told me to take the mornin' off an' show 'im 'round on the farm! I was jus' headin' back to grannys cottage to drop 'im off b'fore I go to my shift! I swear!"

Finn watched his sisters troubled face for a while, before squeezing her hand in a comforting gesture and turned back to the overseer. "Look, sir, I know that none of us have time for this; the sow is sick an' Chuck needs both me an' Toby in there, an' I know you're a very busy man so I've got a suggestion; if Ellie heads straight to the 'Gin now, you'll leave 'er alone, okay? An' if it would make ya feel better, go ahead an' give me a couple of lashes. Just don't punish 'er for it, she was just followin' granny Amas orders!"

"But that ol' hag ain't the one givin' th'orders here, hyena!" He let his eyes sweep over the three hyenas before snorting and unfold his arms and let them rest along his sides. "I'll let this one time slip, but only b'cause I'm in a good mood t'day! If I catch 'er outside 'er work one more time, not even the crazy lizard lady with the wooden spoon will be able to save 'er from my whip, is that understood, hyena?"

"We understand, sir. An' thank you, sir!" Finn said with a monotone voice and watched as the wolverine gave his sister one last snarl before turning his back to them and walk away. As soon as he vanished out of sight, Ellie let go of her brothers hand and let out another sigh of relief. Finn looked down at her and allowed himself to drop the hard look on his face. "Are ya okay, sis?"

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, but I think he might've scared the kid for at least five weeks ahead!" She added with an unconvincing chuckle and looked down at the cub, who was still hugging her arm and watched Finn with a wary expression underneath the thick, messy, dark brown bangs.. "It's okay, lil' guy! Finn is my brother, he's one of us!"

When Finn chuckled and kneeled down to the same height, Kiddo flattened his big ears to his neck and hid behind Ellie, still glaring at the older spotted hyena. "Lasher gave ya quite a fright there, didn't he? It's okay, he might be the biggest an' meanest man ever to work as an overseer, but he's just doin' his work." Finn paused and grimaced. "Although, I really wish he'd stop shoutin' so much, we can hear him perfectly fine anyway..." Kiddo didn't take his eyes off the older Spotted One for a second, but Finn ignored his wary stare and instead tried to smile reassuringly at the cub. "So, what's yer name, kid?"

"He don't know" Ellie answered when Kiddo didn't.

"He don't know?" Finn repeated and looked up at his sister with a puzzled look on his face.

Ellie shook her head. "We thought he didn't know any English either, but when Lucy asked for his name he answered that is was gone, so I bet he knows more than we think." She scratched the back of her head with her free hand. "They said somethin' 'bout possible amnesia, he might've forgotten his name durin' the trip here or somethin'..."

Finn nodded and turned back to the cub. "Don'tcha worry 'bout that, kid! You'll learn, we'll teach ya! An' maybe yer name returns after a while, who knows?" With that, Finn got back on his feet and nodded towards the stable. "I gotta go back now, ya leave the kid an' head straight for the 'Gin now, y'hear? Don't get yerself into more trouble, sis!"

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, I will!" When Finn was about to turn back and leave, Ellie writhed her arm loose from Kiddos grip and ran up to her brother. She threw her arms around his waist, making him stop dead in his tracks. "An' thank you! Thanks a lot, Finn!"

Finn chuckled and gave his sister a short hug back. "Anytime, sis!"

…

Three months passed slowly. Kiddo proved to be a fast learner when it came to switching languages and was soon almost fully able to be having a conversation with. Almost.

He got along pretty well with the other slaves, especially with the other hyenas and when it came to Finn, he was starting to change his mind about the Spotted One. Finn maybe was the spitting image of Wasaki, but he wasn't like the old hunter at all; Finn was nice, funny and whenever one of the overseers was picking on another slave, if he could, he would instantly came to the rescue.

Granny Ama had been the caretaker of everyone who had grown up on the plantation, especially the hyenas who were all nicknamed 'Amas Hyenas'. Even if everyone was close like a family, it was the hyenas, Ama and Chuck who stuck together the most, and Kiddo could proudly count himself as one of them.

But even if everyone seemed content and happy in the slaves little 'village', Kiddo soon learned that there were another side of the plantation. A much harsher reality; when working on the fields, which took up the biggest part of the Aventine Farm, life instantly became much harder. They worked from early mornings to late nights, breaks were scarce and if you didn't work hard enough, the overseers were obligated to use whatever methods they seemed fit to get you going again.

And the still furious Great Mothers blazing heat wasn't making things easier, and sometimes someone would faint due to the hard work in the afternoon heat. But a splash of cold water from one of the overseers and then it was back to work for the poor guy.

Kiddos main duty was to help on the fields, both planting and reaping, every day from dusk to dawn it was always the same thing. His hands hurt even after the first day, and a week later Ama had to help him holding the fork when he ate. Furious over that the cub easily took damage from the hard work on the fields, she managed to haggle with Mr Aventine and agreed on letting the cub get the Sundays off until he was ten years old.

And Kiddo spent the Sundays doing the same thing: hide from the others in the thorny bushes that grew along the high fences between the Aventines residence and the slaves quarters. He had noticed that if you got past the thorns and the thick leaves, there was like a tunnel of vegetation right by the boards that stretched all the way through. It was big enough for him to be able to stand up straight in, and that's where he hid from the outside world. There in the shade, sitting with his back against the wall, he sometimes spent the entire day just thinking and trying to remember his name and his family, or exploring the tunnel.

And one day when he was creeping along the wall, completely hidden by the thick bushes, which also seemed to block out sounds very well, he noticed something interesting with one of the thick, wooden boards: it was loose and could be moved to the side! He didn't dare to do more than to just peek through the hole, only to discover that the other side also was completely covered with thick, light green bushes. A couple of days later he also noticed tracks leading to and from the loose board, which only seemed a few hours old and already the next Sunday he met the one responsible for the tracks.

It was morning, everyone had already left for their work, and Kiddo sneaked out to the bushes as usual. He hadn't gotten much sleep lately because of the strange nightmares that suddenly returned every night, and the hard work was killing him, so he had decided to try to catch up on sleep. But just as he curled up on the ground with his back to the wall, he heard a scratching sound coming from the other side. It took him a couple of seconds to register the sound and realize there was actually someone trying to open the loose board.

Without hesitation, he quickly dove back into the bushes and hid in the thick, and thorny, vegetation, just as the board was shuffled out of place and a young mountain lion girl, about his age, peeked in. Her red hair stood out against the pale green and brown surroundings, and she looked both ways before crawling through the wall and put the board back in place. Kiddo suddenly recognized her: it was the same girl he had seen the same day he arrived; Mr Aventines daughter! He shuffled uneasily, accidentally causing the leaves to rustle and the girl quickly snapped around. Her sea green eyes narrowed suspiciously when she peered around the area, but when she didn't notice anyone nearby she shrugged and continued to walk slouched over along the wall. Kiddo couldn't stop himself from curiously following her. He had to use every single trick he had learned from his father to sneak after her and not make a single sound, even if the dry leaves were hard to not shuffle and the thorns scratched at his face and arms.

Suddenly the girl came to a stop and dropped to her knees. He curiously leaned against a thin branch to get a clearer look through the leaves. He watched as she quickly dug a hole in the ground, pulled out a ring with keys from a pocket in front of her green dress and dropped it into the hole before sealing it up with dirt again.

"Hah! Try to find it now, Lucy!" She said mockingly and reached out tongue out at the buried keys.

Suddenly, the thin branch Kiddo had been leaning his hand against snapped, almost sending him crashing out from the bushes. The noise made the girl instantly spun around, Kiddo barely managed to stay undetected.

"I HEARD YOU!" She growled loudly, making Kiddo nervous for a while that someone would hear her. "Show yourself, coward! Or I'm gonna find ya! I ain't afraid of ya!" She balled her tiny fists and held them up in front of her face. "Who are ya, an' why're ya spyin' on me, creep!" Kiddo hesitated and didn't answer. "Jus' get outta there an' fight like a man! I can hear ya, y'know!"

Kidd bit his lip before he nervously crawled out from the bushes and stood up, brushing the dirt off his clothes. She tilted her head and slowly lowered her hands when she noticed he was just a kid like her. He awkwardly fumbled with his hands as they both silently watched each other, and he noticed that she was slightly taller than him and had to hunch over slightly in the tunnel. Suddenly she snarled and raised her hands again, causing Kiddo flinch.

"Who are ya, buster?! An' what're ya doin' 'ere?!" She bared her small, yet sharp, fangs at him.

"I... I dunno... I just..."

"Why were ya spyin' on me?!"

"I-I wasn't spyin' on ya, Miss! I... Followed ya"

The girl stopped snarling and tilted her head. "Yeah, an' that changes a lot!" She snorted sarcastically and lowered her hands and placed them on her hips. "Whaddya think you're doin' 'ere? No one's s'posed to be 'ere! This is my place!"

"I'm sorry, Miss. I was just...!"

"An' stop callin' me Miss! I hate it, it ain't even my name!"

Kiddo slowly looked up at the girl. "What's yer name then, Miss?"

"Cornelia, AND ENOUGH WITH THAT MISS!"

"I-I'm sorry, Mi.. Um, Cornelia!"

"That's better!" Cornelia said with a snort and folded her arms. "What's yer name then?"

"Uh, my name?"

"No, the name of the President, of course YER name!"

"I... I don't..."

Cornelia slowly raised an eyebrow. "Ya guys don't even have names?"

"Yes! Yes I do! I just..." Kiddo looked away and scratched his neck. "I... I just can't remember it..."

"... How do ya even manage to forget yer own name, moron?" She gave him a bemused look, but before he could answer she waved him off with her hand. "Never mind, don't answer! Anyway, we gotta have a name for ya..." She leaned her weight on one foot and rubbed her chin as she studied the hyena cub from head to toe. "Ya kinda look like my teacher, Mr Bentler..." Kiddo gave her a confused look. "But he ain't one of ya hyena guys, he's just a dog." She snapped her fingers, causing Kiddo to jump in a startled fashion once again. "I know! Bentley!"

"What?"

"Now when I think 'bout it, Bentley seem to suit ya!"

"B-but I already...!"

"Then it's settled! From now on we'll just call ya Bentley, at least 'til ya remember yer old name, capische?"

"Huh?"

"COORNELIAAA!" Suddenly a mans voice was heard from the other side of the fence, now it was Cornelias turn to flinch.

She slowly shook her head and groaned. "Oh, man! That was my dad!" The cub nodded, he had recognized the voice as Mr Aventines heavy, dark voice. "Do ya have any idea how much trouble I'll be in if he would know I've talked to one of ya like this? You mustn't tell ANYONE we've met! Capische?!"

"Why not?"

"Because my dad will KILL me, DUH! I know he's told me I can never, EVER, go to this side alone, since y'all are mindless savages who could hurt me whenever ya git the chance, but I dunno..." She tilted her head at the confused cub and for the first time, he saw a faint snicker tug at the corner of her mouth. "Ya don't seem so bad, in fact, I think I like ya!"

"CORNELIA! COME BACK 'ERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Mr Aventines voice boomed once again, this time he sounded closer. And pissed off.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I git it!" Cornelia replied with a low mutter and brushed past Kiddo/Bentley in the narrow tunnel, almost pushing him into the bushes. "I bet uncle Matt ratted on me 'bout that piece o' cake in his drawers..." Suddenly she stopped and turned back around. "By the way, meet me 'ere again by t'morrow, 'kay?"

The cub blinked in confusion. "Huh? What?"

"So far ya seem like the most sensible person I've ever met, it's good to see that SOMEONE has the brains to keep his mouth shut when I'm 'round!"

"S-sensible?"

"Yeah, an' I wanna see ya t'morrow again, duh!"

"But t'morrow I'm on the fields all day an'..."

"Then meet me 'ere after sunset! Anyway, gotta go or my dad will KILL me!" She turned around and jogged towards the loose board, but before she crawled through she stopped and waved at him. "See ya t'morrow night, Bentley! An' don't tell a single soul 'bout this! 'Kay?!"

"W-wait! I...!" He started to stutter, but then she vanished through the wall and the rustling _chunk_ of the board falling back in place was heard. He let out a sigh. "Uh, o-okay... See ya, Cornelia! I guess..."

…

"So granny, did'cha hear that Lucy's lookin' for her keys? She says they've been missin' all day an' she just can't find 'em!"

"Yeah, I heard that alright. And I can bet it's that little rascal who's hidden them again! She's just like Mr Aventine when he was that age, and when I worked in the house! He'd hide my keys as well, and once I found them in the creek! Maybe she should go look there?"

"I think she already has, granny. She was covered in mud when she came 'ere askin' 'bout 'em!"

Later that evening, by dinner, the cub was staring down at his food, poking sleepily at a piece of bread. Chuck and Finn was finishing up their work in the stables and Toby was back on the fields so it was uncertain when he would be back, so yet it was only Ellie, granny Ama and the nameless cub sitting around the table in grannys cottage. Granny Ama tilted her head with a concerned frown on her face at the cub.

"Are ya feelin' alright, hun?" She asked, the cub looked up the spiky old lizard and nodded.

"Yeah... I was just... thinkin'..." He answered with a low voice and went back to poking at the piece of bread.

Ellie hurried to swallow a spoonful of soup. "Whatcha thinkin' 'bout" She asked curiously after the loud gulp.

"I dunno..." He shrugged. "'Bout my name, I guess..."

"Ya still don't remember, huh?" Ama said and when the cub replied with shake of his little head, she sighed and turned back to her soup.

"Ya better hurry up an' remember that name, 'cause we can't go on an' call ya Kiddo all the time now, can we?" Ellie said with a chuckle and leaned her elbow on the table and placed her head against her palm, a few drops of soup was dripping down from the spoon still in her hand. "Ya ain't gonna be a kid all yer life, y'know!"

The cub didn't reply for a while, he was still thinking back about the meeting with Cornelia. She seemed odd and kinda rude, but he still couldn't help but to like her, somehow. "Bentley" He suddenly thought out loud to himself. He noticed the puzzled looks he got from Ama and Ellie. "That's a name, ain't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so" Ama nodded slowly. "A bit odd, but I guess it counts as a name... I does sound a bit familiar, though!"

"Then I guess that's my name now..." The cub said with a shrug. "I mean, if you think it's better than Kiddo..."

"I have no idea where ya got that from, but I think it's a LOT better than Kiddo!" Ellie nodded and gulped down the rest of her soup. She wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve and eyed his still untouched bowl of soup. "An' if Mr Bentley wanna eat somethin' t'night he better gobble that soup up b'fore it gets cold! Or else I might take it, I'm hungry as a wolf right now! Runnin' the 'Gin all day is hard work, y'know!"

**Sorry, had to cut his meeting with Corny a bit short since the introduction of the other slaves and Lasher took way longer time than I thought :/... But the little sassy redhead will play a huge role anyway, so don't sweat it :P  
**


	9. A prankster is born!

**Hehe, it's a really long chapter today ;)! And whaddya know, I've even decided on a birthday date for good ol' Bentley xP! The interesting thing is if I'll remember it myself next year, lol xD  
**

***** Chapter Nine : A Prankster Is Born *****

**Three years later...**

"URGH!"

Bentley had been sitting with his legs crossed and stared down at the ground, deep in his own thoughts, when Cornelias husky groan of annoyance was heard and the loose board in the wooden wall was shuffled to the side with a loud _bang_. He turned his head just as the young redhead mountain lion squeezed herself through the hole in the wall. "Errm, hi, Cornelia!"

She snorted and cursed when her hair got tangled in the bushes above her head, but she didn't answer him. She didn't seem to be in a good mood at all! Or at least worse than usual, and to face the fact that they both were getting too big to move around in the bush tunnels freely anymore only seemed to add to her discontent.

"We need a new hideout!" She snarled lowly and pulled out a thorn from her pawlike hand. "Like, pronto!" She turned her head at him and gave him a meaning look.

He shrugged. "I'm sorry, Cornelia... I-I don't know any other place than this... A place where no one else goes, that is!"

"Well, ya better find one quick! And we gotta do something about that hole!" She narrowed her eyes at Bentley. "You guys got like, tool and stuff over there, huh?"

"What kind of tools?"

She snorted again. "I dunno, maybe somethin' we can use to pry another stupid board away with!" She rolled her eyes and added a muttering: "Ya dummy!"

"Soo, like a hammer? Or crowbar?"

She threw her arms out. "I don't know! Make somethin' up! You're good at makin' things up!"

Bentley frowned. "What do ya mean by that? I don't make things up, Cornelia!"

"Pfft, sure ya don't!" She rolled her sea-green eyes again. "Like that story about the sun bein' some kind of god or somethin'... Hah! Ridiculous!"

"The Great Mother is a goddESS! It's a difference between gods an' goddesses y'know!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! An' I suppose ya still believe in Santa Claus too?"

"Santa what? Who's that?"

"Ugh! Never mind!" She averted her eyes to the loose board, frowned and then turned back to Bentley and pointed at the hole with her thumb. "Oy! Weren'tcha gonna get us some tools or somethin'? Hop to it, buster!"

Bentley groaned and got on his knees, he couldn't stand up in the tunnels anymore without getting leaves and thorns in his hair and ears, so he had to crawl out. "Ya don't have to boss me 'round, y'know!"

"Hey! You ain't the only one I ain't askin' nicely so it ain't exactly personal if that's what ya think!"

"I never said I thought that!"

"Ya can't talk back to me! Shut up or I'll tell my dad!"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it! Geez!"

He left the young mountain lion behind as he crawled towards the exit and peeked out. The coast was clear, no overseers or other slaves was around. He nodded to himself, crawled out and made his way to the blacksmith, Church. Hopefully, the big, quiet lion could borrow him something that could help with breaking loose another board in the wall.

It had passed three whole years since Bentley first arrived to the plantation, and he still wasn't fitting in. He had gotten to know everyone else and had been considered a part of the 'family' ever since day one, and since he was the youngest of the slaves, the overseers were a bit easier on him. Except for Lawrence Butch, also known as 'Lasher'. Lasher had something against everyone.

But even if Bentley was now was among friends, he never really felt at home. He missed his family, his REAL family! And their village, the jungle, and it's other inhabitants. He even missed the mosquitoes and the leeches! But most of all, he missed his father. For probably the third time this day, Bentley cursed himself for running away and dragging his sister with him. If he just would have listened to the others and stayed put none of this would have happened! They wouldn't have been captured and split apart, he wouldn't have been taken to a strange land as a slave with a boat of horrors, and his father wouldn't have had to die. This was all his fault...

He stopped walking when he spotted someones shadow in the corner of his eyes and turned around, just as Toby bolted past. The striped hyena looked like he was in trouble as he dashed past the younger brown hyena without giving him as much as a glance and headed towards the outskirts of the slaves living area. Bentley tilted his head as he watched Tobys back disappear between the shabby houses, before he shrugged and continued towards the blacksmith. Toby was probably just off on some side-mission and was now returning to the fields.

Since Bentley was so young, he had been allowed to take the Sundays off until he was ten years old. And they had figured out that his tenth birthday would take place sometime in the summer this year. In other words; he only had a couple of weeks left until he had to work just as hard and long as the others. Needless to say, since he was already feeling worn out by the amount of work he had to do now, he did NOT look forward to his birthday!

Speaking of which, Bentley thought these 'birthday' things they celebrated in this land was... fascinating! They didn't show much respect for life at all, but for some reason they liked to celebrate the day someone was born and then keep doing so every year! Back home, they didn't keep count like they did here, so he had no idea what to say when Ellie asked when he was born. And when he eventually answered; "In the Eight Year of the Bongo Antelopes Era?", she had just stared at him funny for two whole minutes and then burst out laughing. At last, they had set the date for his birthday at '15th of May', the day he had arrived to the Aventine Farm. He wasn't sure what day it was today, but what he knew was that he only had a couple of more Sundays left. And he still hadn't told Cornelia about it yet. Boy, was she going to be pissed when she found out!

Sometimes, he didn't know what to think about Cornelia; ever since he met her that day almost three years ago, they had been continuing to meet every Sunday at noon by the loose board. She could be really moody, and was really rowdy, crude and even plain out mean, especially when she was in a bad mood like today! But still, for some weird reason, Bentley really liked her! She was a great friend! Despite being a stubborn, spoiled brat, she didn't seem like a bad person, in fact, she was really fun to be around! Not to mention that they both had the same sense of humor, most of the time at least.

In a way, she reminded him of a coconut: hard and rugged on the outside, soft and sweet on the inside. Even if she insulted him, mocked him and wasn't exactly modest about the fact that he literally belong to her family, she was still nicer than the overseers, and he was glad to be her best, and probably only, friend.

The hardest part however, was to keep their friendship a secret. Since they BOTH would get into really deep trouble if they were found out; Cornelia wasn't allowed to go past the tall fence alone, and Bentley wasn't allowed to as much as TALK with her. Cornelia claimed that she would get into more trouble than him, but he seriously doubted that. She would probably just get grounded and one heck of a scolding, while he would get whipped into shreds and then sold off cheap to a mining facility or for railroad work, but he kept that to himself when she was around.

He finally got to the blacksmith, which was connected to the stable further down the wall, and discovered that it was empty. He tiptoed into the sooty building and looked around, but he didn't see any signs of Church anywhere, and a 250 pound lion male wasn't exactly hard to miss.

"H-hello? Church?" Bentley called out just in case. "Anyone here?" No answer. But he still kept his senses on edge as the began to search for any tools, but couldn't find anything that seemed useful.

He then remembered the toolshed behind the blacksmith, but when he strolled around to the other side he noticed that it was locked up just as tight as the pantry. He was about to return to the bushes and admit his defeat, when he noticed that the ground underneath one of the walls was lower than the rest, creating a gap. He bent down and inspected it.

It was to narrow for him to crawl through so he had to dig it wider before he could squirm into the toolshed. While inside, his pulse began to rise. He knew he just did something that was against the rules, and if he was found out, he'd get whipped for sure! But then again, Cornelia would probably just laugh at him if he chickened out, so he took a deep breath and kept his ears peeled as he rummaged through the shelves. When he finally found a crowbar on one of the top shelves, he cheered quietly to himself and grabbed it. He was about to crawl out again with the crowbar in his hands when a scream was heard throughout the entire plantation. The scream caused him to freeze halfway out and lie completely still. That voice had sounded familiar, it had almost sounded like Ellie! And it sounded like she was in pain!

He remained paralyzed in fear until the next scream came and made him snap back to reality. He scrambled out and up on his feet and bolted away to the bushes. Still with the crowbar in hand, he dove straight into the thorny bushes and crawled into the tunnels. He found Cornelia sitting with her back against the wall with a strange, large, square object in her lap. She was staring intently at it until she heard him return, breathing heavily and wide-opened, scared eyes. His ears was flattened to his neck, almost completely hidden underneath the thick hair, and he was trembling like a leaf.

"Eh, did I miss somethin'?" She raised an eyebrow at his frightened look.

"D-didn't ya hear that?!"

"Hear what?"

"That scream! I-I think it was Ellie!"

She shrugged and went back at staring at the strange object. "Maybe" Bentley didn't answer, he just kept staring back from where he came. "Oh! An' that thing ain't needed no more!" He turned his head back to her with a puzzled look and she nodded with her head at the crowbar, still without looking up from the object. "I noticed that this fence is about to crumble down any day so I broke another board with my hands"

"... Are ya kiddin' with me?" He grimaced down at the crowbar. "I just did all that in vain then?"

She nodded so the ponytail her red hair was held in flowed down over her shoulder. "Yup!"

He groaned in response and leaned his back against the wall. He listened for more screams, but to his relief he had only heard those two. Instead, he curiously glanced over at the thing she was so focused on. "What's that?"

"The Frog Prince..."

He cocked an eyebrow. "... Wha?"

"Eh, I don't get it myself either..." She frowned and shook her head. "Apparently it's 'bout some prince that gets turned into a frog by an evil witch and he tries to get this farmer girl to kiss him so he'll turn back into a prince so he can marry her... I wouldn't have done it though, I mean, who in their right mind would ever wanna be a princess? Not only do ya have morons surroundin' ya all day, but ya always have to wear these silly dresses an' a butt-ugly crown on yer head! An' ya can't do whatever ya want b'cause ya have to set an example! I mean, if a princess would go mud-wrestlin' with someone they wouldn't be admired for being free-spirited an' fun, she'd be frowned upon for not bein' ladylike enough!" She stuck her tongue out in disgust. "Pretty much the life I live right now! Geez!"

But when she turned her head to Bentley to wonder why he wasn't replying, she was met with the most confused hyena she had ever seen in her entire life. "What?" Was all he could say after a moment of awkward silence.

She returned his confused face. "What what?"

"What IS that thing?" He pointed at the object. "A frog prince?! What the...?!"

With a puzzled frown, she looked back down at the object and almost closed it shut. On the side that had been facing down there was a drawing of a sad frog with some sort of crown on his head. "This?" Bentley nodded. "It's a book?"

"A... book?" He tilted his head, and Cornelias eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"Oh my god, ya never seen a BOOK b'fore, have ya?" When he slowly shook his head, she moaned and slammed her palm onto her face. "Cheesus! What rock did YOU grow up under?!"

"E-excuse me? Rock?"

"This is a book, Bentley. B-O-O-K!" She slammed the book shut and held it up in front of his face. "These things are like, the most basic things ever! People use these things to read stuff in, like stories and stuff!"

Bentley slowly took the book and opened it. One side was littered with a cluster of small, black symbols he couldn't make any sense out of, but on the other side was a drawing of a young mountain lion male dressed in odd, and kinda silly, clothes and a old, ugly vulture female wearing a worn, black robe. The mountain lion was crouching down with a frightened look on his face and the vulture was shooting blue lightning bolts out of her fingertips, apparently it was the prince being turned into a frog by a witch.

"How do ya know what they're sayin'?" He asked as he continued to look through the book, admiring the images.

"Well, I read it of course!" She snorted and pointed down at the other page, the one crammed with the little symbols.

He narrowed his eyes and leaned closer in over the book. The symbols seemed randomly placed and lacked any means of structure or logic. "R-read this?" He tried to see if it was some kind of decipherable pattern in it, but nothing seemed to make any sense at all. "What ARE these things?"

Cornelias mouth was clenched shut as she glared at the hyena with a disbelieving frown. "Have you guys heard 'bout this great new invention they call 'fire'?" She asked sarcastically after a while with a monotone voice. He looked up at her, more confused than ever. "Ya really don't know how to read either?"

"Ya mean these small, black things?" He glanced down at the symbols for a couple of seconds, before looking back up at her and slowly shake his head.

"Are ya for real, Bentley?! They're called letters! LETTERS! Ya guys really are stuck in the stone-age, aren'tcha?!" She exclaimed and snatched the book back from him. But then she calmed down, took a deep breath and frowned at the book. "In any case, dad said that if I read this thing out by tonight I'd get my own roadrunner... But I hate readin'! It's so painfully boring! Maybe you guys are the lucky ones who doesn't even know how to read..." Bentley honestly didn't know what to answer to that. After a moment of silence, she sighed and turned back to the hole in the wall. "Look, I gotta go back now, but I'll see ya here again next week, 'kay?"

Bentley nodded. "Sure!" But he couldn't help but to let out a restrained sigh when she moved the now two loose boards and easily crawled through and disappeared. He glanced down at the crowbar. "Now I gotta return this..." He thought out loud to himself and rolled his eyes. "Yipi..."

…

It didn't took him long to return the crowbar to the shed without getting noticed, since Church still was nowhere to be seen. The stable seemed fairly deserted as well, except for the critters.

After returning the crowbar, he decided to head straight back home; to granny Amas cabin. He had still been sleeping in her attic since he arrived here, and it had taken him these three years to stop being creeped out by the skull above her door. Apparently, it was some kind of 'ward against evil' charm, but that was all she could say when he asked about it.

But as he got closer to the cabin, he heard muffled noises coming from the inside and it even sounded like someone was crying. He slowed down and listened, and he got even more scared when he recognized Ellie as the one crying! He bit down hard on his lip, walked up the short staircase and carefully opened the door and sneaked in. Directly emerging into the kitchen, he noticed that it was unusually many people in the house for this time of the day. Toby was leaning his back against the wall with his face buried in his hand and next to him stood Church, silently staring down at the ground. Finn was sitting on one of the chairs next to the table, with Ellie in his lap. She was sobbing loudly and buried her face in the crook of her big brothers neck, who had protectively wrapped his arms around her. Finns jaw was clenched shut, the black, spiky mane was standing straight out from the neck and the round ears were flattened to his neck. He looked beyond angry! Chuck was there too, sitting on a chair next to Finn and tried to help the hyena comfort the young teenager. When Bentley entered, their attention was momentarily turned to him. All except Ellie, who kept crying into Finns shoulder.

"E-Ellie?" Bentley stuttered and felt a lump form in his chest. "W-what's...?" His voice trailed off when he saw the cause to everyones mixed emotions, and Ellies pain; her dress on her back had been ripped, and three long, bleeding gashes were visible through the fabric. The first one didn't seem so deep and most of the harm it could have done had been stopped by the long mane on her back, but the two others looked really bad and had even sliced through the mane! "W-what... Happened?" Bentley stuttered again, even if he knew what had happened to her. Ellie HAD been the one who screamed before, and she screamed because they had whipped her!

"I-It was my f-fault!" Toby answered, even if his voice was muffled by his own hand, it still sounded thick with guilt. "I-I sh-should've been the one t-they...!"

"Damnit Toby, will ya just shut up 'bout it?!" Finn snarled, cutting the striped hyena off.

"What happened?!" Bentley replied and let his eyes wander over the people in the room. "Why did they... whip her? Why would they do that to Ellie!?"

Toby answered before anyone else could. "W-we were workin' on the fields, I-I was diggin' up the ground a-and she helped me b-by plantin' the seeds. Th-the shovel broke though, s-so I left t-to f-find a new one a-an' when I returned th-the o-hoverseers had thought it was SH-SHE who broke it a-and refused to l-listen to me!" He drew a shaking sigh and slowly shook his head. "I sh-should been the one t-they punished! N-not Ellie!"

Church kept staring at the floor and shook his head, the dark brown, bushy mane around his head waved in sync with his movements. "She ain't done nothin' wrong! Ever!"

"Oh keep quiet! Ya two ain't the one who's s'posed to keep her safe from this kinda things, y'know!" Finn replied just as Toby barely finished the sentence. "I should've been there! If I hadn't been too busy, this wouldn't have happened to her!"

Ellie shifted in her brothers arms and sniveled as she turned her head away from his shoulder to wipe her nose on her sleeve. Bentley felt his throat tighten up even more when he saw her face; her eyes were all bloodshot and puffy and completely swimming with tears. Her face was dirty and the tears had left smudgy trails along her cheeks. He had never seen her like this before; Ellie was known on the plantation for being their little beam of sunshine. She was always happy and smiling, perhaps a little too happy at times, and loved to give out hugs to left and right. So the thought of anyone that would wanna hurt her like this was completely bizarre for them, and why Lasher held a grudge against her was even less understandable!

Finn clamped his jaw shut once again and hugged his little sister closer, yet still careful to not cause her more pain than what she already felt. "I'm sorry, Ellie! I'm so sorry, sis! I'll never let this happen to ya again, I swear!" He mumbled and clenched his eyes shut as well.

"Oh don't be so dramatic, Finn! They only gave her three! She'll survive!" Granny Ama suddenly walked into the kitchen, holding a small, steaming pot with some smelly goo in one hand and a bundle of bandages in her other. "An' the rest of ya have no purpose 'ere! Y'all got work to do! Go on! Schoo!" When everyone turned to leave the house, Ama stopped Bentley with a waved of the pot. "Except you, Bentley! Good thing you're here now, I'll need someone to help me with these bandages!" The pocket in front of her apron was filled with pieces of cloth and after she put the pot down on the table, she went to fetch a bowl of water and dipped one of the cloth pieces in it. "Alright, hun. Let's have a look at them!"

Ellie stared at the pot with her red eyes wide in fear and then moved her eyes to the piece of cloth Ama held in her scaly hand. She shook her head and pressed herself closer to her brother. "N-no... No!" She sobbed and her arms around his neck tightened their grip.

Finn tried to loosen one of her arms to give him more room to breathe. "Ellie, please. Just let Ama..."

"NO!" She shrieked and buried her face in the crook of his neck again. "No no no! Finn! I-it hurts!"

"It'll hurt a lot more if we don't do 'nothin' 'bout it!" Ama said with a firm voice.

"An' don't worry, sis; I'm right here, 'kay?" Finn managed to pry her away from his neck and held her head between his hands, trying to lock eyecontact with his traumatized sister. "I ain't goin' anywhere, sis, ya know I won't! Now, let Ama work her magic an' you'll feel better in no time! Trust me, I if anyone, knows this! They've whipped me tons of times b'fore an' I KNOW how damn much it hurts, but if we don't do somethin' 'bout those lashes on yer back now, they'll just hurt even more an' it'll take forever to heal!"

Ellie looked scared as she listened to her brother. She knew he was right, but right now it felt like her back was on fire and it would just get worse everytime someone touched her. But eventually she nodded, slowly and trembling, and began to sob again.

Finn gave her a faint smile in return. "Good girl!" After Ellie turned her whipped back to Ama and buried her face into Finns chest, Finn gave the elderly lizard a short nod in a gesture for her to go on.

Bentley didn't want to look as they cleaned out her wounds and covered them up with the greenish black sludge, which probably stung like hell since Ellie began screaming and trashing in pain, making it harder for Finn to hold her still. There were blood everywhere on the cloths that Ama had used to wipe the wounds clean, and just looking at either them or the wounds made Bentleys stomach churn so he had to keep his eyes locked at the floor to not throw up. Only when his name was mentioned did he look up and handed Ama one of the rolls, which he had began to uncoil on her demand.

He still couldn't grasp that it had been Ellie who got whipped. Ellie, out of all people! She never did anything wrong and out of everyone on the plantation, she was the one who deserved it the least! Suddenly he felt his anger rise, anger towards the overseers and Lasher who had been the one doing the whipping. That son of a bitch probably enjoyed it too! They couldn't just do this to her, could they?! If she actually had done something then maybe, but she was innocent! And they had probably believed Toby when he tried to explain to them that he had been the guilty one, but they had just chosen to ignore him! But, why would anyone want to hurt someone like Ellie? All she wanted to do in life was to cheer everyone up and do good! And probably marry Toby!

Bentley handed Ama another roll as a new thought appeared in his mind; Lasher couldn't just do something like this just because he wanted to! He was the one who had done wrong, and needs to be punished, but how? It had to be something special, something humiliating! But what?

…

Later that night, at the dining table in the Aventines residence, the five inhabitants of the house was sitting around the table, just about to finish their dinner; Cornelia, her parents, Gabriel and Grace Aventine, her teacher Mr Bentler, a dog of some unidentifiable breed and Gabriels younger brother Matt.

Cornelia sighed and poked with her fork into the piece of salmon that by now had gone cold, while sleepily listening to uncle Matts wild tales about his adventures in the African jungles. Matt Aventine was a renowned paleontologist and adventurer, who just got back from his latest expedition. Every time he returned home he'd bring home a boatload of both souvenirs and stories, although Cornelia doubted that at least half of those were real.

"An' we thought we'all had mosquito-problems here, boy, down there they're even worse! They're more, bigger an' hungrier! But then again, we DID have to cross the bit more 'swampier' parts of the jungle, as we couldn't find a guide who was willing to just take us through the jungles." The mountain lion paused, stuffed more food into his mouth and swallowed before continuing: "In any case, those pesky mosquitoes AND all those leeches, surely made everything in their power to make our trip as testing as possible! As if the terrain an' the natives weren't enough!"

"Oh dear, the natives? Were your party ever attacked?" Grace, Cornelias mother, asked curiously and brushed a strand of her bright, red hair out of her face.

Matt ignored the snort from Cornelia and ruffled the dark gray tuft of hair on his head. "Nah, I wouldn't say we were attacked for real, but we did run into a hyena hunting pack, an' they weren't exactly welcomin' us! I've heard that the brown hyenas usually were wary an' suspicious, yet hospitable, towards strangers, but these guys made it clear to us that they didn't want us an'where near their jungles! I think their leader might even have threatened us to our lives!"

Mr Bentler looked up from his dinner and pushed the large, round glasses back on his long nose. "Was that why you couldn't hire a guide to take you through?"

Matt shrugged at the dogs question. "Yeah, that an' b'cause of the war, I s'pose..."

Cornelia stopped poking in her food and perked her ears. "War?"

"Yeah, a war of some sorts has been goin' on for a couple of years now. So far it's just some quarreling between the three hyena tribes, but I bet it's just a matter of time b'fore others try to interfere as well!"

"What're they fightin' 'bout?" This had caught the young girls interest and she was now sitting at the edge of her chair with both her elbows on the table.

"To be frank, I ain't sure others than themselves knows the reason!" Matt shrugged once again and shook his head. "It's not exactly like it's a full fledged bloodbath and brutal massacres going on all days long, it's more like they're freezin' each other out an' individual kills on the spot if anyone would happen to trespass. In other words: zero tolerance for each other! But I've actually heard that the brown hyenas sometimes leaves their jungles an' raids nearby spotted villages! Which I think it a bit fascinatin', seein' as it's the brown ones that's s'posed to be the LEAST lethal of the three tribes! Sure, they're suspicious towards strangers, but b'fore the war they would gladly welcome anyone into the village if they were weary travelers out on a long adventure! An' NOT wave their spears 'round at our faces!" Matt paused for a couple of beats. "Y'know, I think the hyenas are an interestin' kind! In the wild, it's the females who acts as their leaders, an' they take this thing with, ahum, marriages very seriously! For instance, if you separate a female from her mate in any way, you'll get banished for life, as it's considered one of the worst crimes of all! So typical of a matriarchy, isn't it?"

"But..." Cornelia frowned and tilted her head. "Why do they get banished? Why not just kill the fucker?"

"Cornelia!" Grace growled at her daughters choice of words and Mr Bentler frowned disapprovingly, but neither Matt or her father seemed to notice.

"Well, y'see, the hyenas might be very different in both their appearance an' lifestyle, but they all have one thing in common; they all live after one very important rule, call it a code if you'd like; all kinds of life is sacred, an' a life must only be taken to feed another! They claim it's words spoken directly to them by their god..." Matt frowned and poked at his forehead as he tried to recall the name of the god. "What was that name again? I know they told me 'bout it... Ah yes! They call him Mama Kubwa, an' guess what? It's the sun, an' they...!"

"Wrong!" Cornelia chortled out a dry laugh and kicked back on her chair with her arms folded. "Actually, Mama Kubwa literally means The Great Mother, an' SHE is a goddess! Not a god!" Eyebrows were raised at her from everyone around the table, but she didn't mind them and continued; "It's a certain difference between gods and goddesses; goddesses creates life, while it's the gods job to keep the balance between all the life in the world!"

Matt looked at his niece with a flat frown on his face. "And HOW, if you don't mind me askin', do you know that?"

"Umm..." Cornelia awkwardly fumbled with her fingers under the table. "I... I just do, 'kay?"

Grace chuckled and rolled with her eyes. "Oh isn't she just precious? Her imagination is even wilder than mine was in that age!"

"Hey!" The little redhead protested and pouted. "Excuse me?! Precious?!"

Matt snorted and waved with his hand. "Yeah, probably... Anyway where was I? Oh yes, the hyenas!" He chuckled and turned his attention to the food. "Despite all that, they seem like pretty sensible people! I'm surprised that they aren't more intelligent than that!"

"I ain't!" Gabriel said with a determined snort. "I mean, if ya think the sun is some kind of god, or goddess, I'm more surprised that they ain't wiped 'emselves out yet!"

His brother nodded in agreement. "Yeah, good point there!"

Cornelia angrily clenched her jaw shut and folded her arms across her chest again. "I don't believe you two!" She growled lowly, once again earning surprised looks from around the table. "I think they could be smart too!"

"An' what gives you that idea, squirt?" Matt rolled his eyes and leaned over the table. "Go on, you can tell us!"

"Well, they're not all that different from us, are they? I mean, they got families, feelings, they can think an'..."

"Yeah, but those feelings are restricted, an' their thought process is hardly as advanced as ours" Mr Bentler spoke and slowly shook his head at the young mountain lion.

"How do you know that? Have you asked 'em?"

"Please Cornelia..." Grace said with a bothered look on her face. "We understand how you think, but that's just not the way it is, dear! Let's talk about something else, instead! How are her studies going, Mr Bentler?"

The dog sighed, shook his head and was about to answer, but got cut off by Cornelia. "No! I wanna know; why do YOU guys think the slaves are so stupid?"

"Well, we never really said they were stupid..." Gabriel started off, and Matt finished: "But yeah, they kinda are! For instance; why ain't they attackin' us, huh?" The gray-haired mountain lion leaned over the table and lowered his voice, in case anyone in the household would be around to listen. "Brother, how many slaves do you have here? 30? 40?"

"35 last time we checked, why?"

"Well, there's 35 of them, but only 5 of us! Okay, 9 if you'd count the overseers, but we're still outnumbered! An' let's not even mention the larger plantations with up to several HUNDREDS of slaves! If they wanted to, they could just tear the wall down, kill us all an' be free! But they won't! An' why is that? B'cause they're too dumb to realize it, that's why!"

Cornelia opened her mouth to protest, but shut it again when she couldn't come with a good answer. She growled in defeat, pushed her chair back and ran away from the table. She ignored her mothers holler after her and bolted up the stairs to her bedroom. She shut the door behind her and threw herself at her large bed, picking up one of the puffy pillows and began to punch it. While the punches hailed over the poor pillow, she kept growling and tried to picture uncle Matts smug face on the pillow. When she finally struck the pillow with the final blow, it broke and millions of small, white feathers exploded all over her room.

As she watched the feathers slowly dance their way through the air and eventually gently land on the floor, she began to calm down from her little tantrum. That is, until she heard someone knock on the door and it opened slightly. "Miss Cornelia?"

"PISS OFF!" Cornelia roared and threw another pillow just as Lucy peeked her head in through the doorway. The pillow landed with a _smack_ on the wall next to her and it caused the cheetah to take a surprised step to the side.

"Oh, I thought I heard you storm by a while ago" Lucy stared at the pillow and then moved her head to Cornelia, sitting on her bed. Her red hair was a tangled mess with feathers sticking out from everywhere and her face was equally red with anger.

"Get lost, Lucy!"

"Hey, I'm just here to check on ya, Miss! Are ya alright?"

Cornelia grabbed the nearest object on her right, a stuffed teddy, and threw it at her nanny too. "I said; GET LOST!" Lucy managed to dodge just in time, which made Cornelia give out a groan of frustration and dive head first into the pile of remaining pillows.

Lucy first looked at the little girl and then to the teddy she just threw. She snickered, picked the teddy up and walked over to the large bed and sat down next to the frustrated mountain lion. "Wow, ya really can't handle losin' an argument, can ya, Miss?" She smiled and began to pick the loose feathers out of Cornelias hair.

Cornelia looked up from the pillows and frowned at her. "Yes I can! I just don't wanna!"

The cheetah couldn't help but to chuckle again at her frustrated face. "Oh ya are simply just too much sometimes, y'know that, Miss?"

"An' YOU are just simply too annoyin', Lucy! An' I've told ya: stop callin' me Miss! My name is Cornelia!"

"I'm sorry, Miss, but I'm gonna keep callin' ya Miss 'til the day ya die! Besides, yer ol' man wouldn't allow that I called ya anythin' else but Miss"

"Screw that old hog!" Cornelia let her head fall back into the pile again, and when she spoke her voice was muffled. "He can't decide what I wanna be called! I don't wanna be called Miss by ev'ryone! I'm Cornelia, damn it!" Suddenly her head perked back up from the pillows and she turned her head to Lucy. "Lu, do you know how to read?"

Lucy flinched and blinked in surprise at the young mountain lion. "Excuse me, Miss?"

"Do you know how to read?"

"Nah, can't say that I do, Miss..."

"Write?"

Lucy shook her head. "Nope"

"Why not?"

Confused by the young girls odd questions, Lucy was hesitant before she answered. "Well, no one's ever taught me how..."

"Why not?!"

"I-it ain't allowed, Miss"

"Why not?!" This time Lucy didn't answer, so Cornelia turned her face down to the pillows again. "You can go now, Lu..." She said after a few moments of silence. "I'll be alright..."

Lucy raised an eyebrow, but she did as the girl said. But before she walked away, she returned the teddy. "A message from Teddy, he doesn't like gettin' thrown at people!"

Cornelia snatched it back and snorted. "Too bad, b'cause Teddy will be flyin' again if the meddlesome nanny ain't skedaddlin' like, now!"

Lucy chuckled and walked back to the door, but just as she placed her hand on the doorknob, she remembered why she really was there. "Oh, an' one more thing, Miss" She paused and snickered at Cornelias puzzled look on her face and slightly tilted head. "They're servin' cake down there right now, an' Mrs Grace told me to come an' git'cha." Cornelia snorted and folded her arms. "It's pineapple upside-down cake, yer favorite ain't it?"

"Is uncle Matt gonna be down there?"

"Yeah"

"Then I ain't interested!" Cornelia dove back into the pillows and this time she didn't get back up. "Tell mom I ain't comin' down there 'til Matt the Stupid is gone!"

Lucy stifled a laugh. "Very well then, I'll make sure to tell her that!"

And with that, she closed the door and left Cornelia alone in the quiet, but messy, room. Cornelia slowly lifted her head up when the cheetahs steps had vanished and blew away a feather that had gotten stuck on her nose. She turned her head to her bookshelf and raised an eyebrow when she saw her old studying books on one of the shelves. An idea slowly began to form in her head as she made her way over and pulled them out. English books, math books, history books, even an atlas!

She smirked and hugged the books as she pranced back to her bed with them all in her arms and began to look for anything she could use to carry them in. She had just gotten the best idea ever; she was going to prove to uncle Matt and everyone else that their slaves weren't completely stupid, and Bentley was going to help her with that! She was going to teach him how to read, write, count, practically everything she knew! Besides, Mr Bentlers power and just the fact that he got paid for bossing children around had made her want to be a teacher anyway, so why not just use this as an opportunity to practice the art?

…

Bentley had also been making plans that night, plans for a revenge on Lasher. Very early in the morning, before anyone else had awokened, he decided to put his plans in motion and sneaked out. He had to be careful to not wake granny Ama up, and when he made it out of the house without making any sounds, he instantly made a beeline towards the overseers houses and peeked inside Lashers house. He didn't have a family like some of the others had, but his house was still one of the larger ones, and to Bentleys joy there was a tall, strong tree conveniently placed right by the house. The heavy, mean-looking wolverine was lying on his stomach on the bed, snoring loudly.

Bentley threw one last look at the overseer before he turned around and head for the stable, where he managed to find what he needed, and then he sneaked into the blacksmith to look for tar. When he found everything he needed, he returned and broke into the overseers house. He set the trap and when he was done he took a step back and made sure that everything would work. Before he walked out and head back home, he narrowed his eyes at the still sleeping Lasher.

"This is for Ellies back, demon!" He said lowly and bolted home. He had barely got in under the covers of his own bed in the attic when Ama woke up downstairs.

He could hear her walk about and tinker with some stuff before she stuck her head up at the staircase. "Rise n' shine, hun! Time for breakfast!" She hollered cheerfully, and not long after that they both heard the door opened and someone walked in. "G'mornin', Finn! Good to see ya up an' 'bout! Oh, Ellie too! How are ya feelin', hun? Yer back okay?"

"Y-yeah, it's a lot better t'day actually... Thanks, granny!" Ellie answered. She sounded sleepy and slurred slightly, as if she just recently stopped crying.

Bentley hurried to get dressed again and almost ran down the stairs to meet them. Ellies eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and when he saw how tired and worn out both Finn and her looked, he realized that maybe neither of them had gotten that much sleep tonight either. Ellie had probably been in too much pain to be able to sleep at all, and Finn had probably been keeping himself awake all night just to comfort her.

When she saw Bentley come down the stairs, she managed to pull off a rather sad and tired looking smile. "H-hi, little guy! G'mornin'!" She really didn't look like her old self, at least not with those large, dark rings under her teary eyes. Bentley gave her a short nod in return, but didn't say anything.

Soon, even Toby and Chuck joined them for breakfast. Toby instantly walked straight up to Ellie and tried to apologize for what happened yesterday, while she tried to convince him that she didn't blame him at all.

It ended with her throwing her arms around his waist and hugged him close. "I-I don't wanna talk about it..." She said and tried to give him a reassuring smile. "I still don't think it was yer fault, but I just wanna forget 'bout it now, okay? Let's talk 'bout somethin' else, huh?" Toby hesitated before nodding mutely and give her a quick hug back.

For a while, Bentley thought his trap had failed, but just as they all walked out from Amas cabin to start the days work, weird shouts and yells were heard from Lashers house and everyone ran over to see what the ruckus was all about. After a while, Lashers door was kicked open and the wolverine staggered out. A bucket of tar was stuck over his head and straw was stuck all over his body where the sticky, black fluid had poured. He cursed loudly and staggered around as he tried to get the bucket off his head, but suddenly he stepped into a loop that was hidden underneath a pile of leaves. The trap closed around his leg and before he knew it, he was hoisted high up into the tree and ended up dangling upside down, covered in straw and tar, kicking and cussing up a storm.

The chuckles began with Finn and then spread throughout the crowd of slaves who had seen the spectacle. It had been just too funny to not laugh! And hearing the others laugh, even if they tried to hold it in and some even sound scared as they laughed, was like music to Bentleys ears and he was soon laughing along with them. He didn't care if he would get into a shitload of trouble right now! He had managed to make the others laugh, and that alone was worth anything coming his way.

Suddenly, three gunshots echoed, seemingly from nowhere. Bentley instantly stopped laughing and froze up in fear as his ears went back and he began to shiver. This time, the gunshots hadn't just been figments of his imagination; they were real! And that was in a way, even more terrifying! The other slaves abruptly stopped laughing as well and stepped to the side as the three other overseers walked through. One of them, a ferret by the name Wilkes, was holding a smoking revolver pointed at the sky. The overseers only used their guns in moments like these, when they needed everyones attention, but it still didn't change the fact that they instantly became twenty times scarier than before whenever they drew them!

Wilkes walked through the crowd and looked up at Lasher, still writhing and kicking with the bucket on his head. The ferret frowned and shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk..." He turned to the crowd and bared his teeth. "Alright, which one of ya smartasses did this, huh?!" He growled loudly and holstered his gun. The remaining two of his comrades went to get Lasher down from the tree. "Answer me, ya pile o' rats; WHO DID THIS?!"

Finn looked around, since nobody seemed to dare to admit it was they, he thought he better step forth before they decided to pick someone out randomly and punish him or her, not caring if they were innocent or not! But just as he took a deep breath, Bentley scurried out from the group and held his little hand up.

"I did it, sir!" He said, causing everyone, including the overseers, to flinch in surprise.

"Y-you?!" Wilkes raised both his eyebrows at the youngster. Bentley nodded and right then, Lasher was cut down and crashed onto the ground with a very heavy _thud_! "How did...?"

"Huh, that trap over there? Oh, they're pretty easy to set up!" Bentley grinned. "Back home we use this to capture gwasi with! I once caught a fullgrown gwasi all by myself y'know!"

Lasher growled loudly, and Bentley lost whatever confidence he had managed to bring up to be able to talk to them like that. The wolverine grabbed the bucked with both of his hands and yanked it off his head, his yellow, bloodshot eyes instantly found Bentley and he snarled furiously as he scrambled to his feet. "And WHAT. Is. A. Gwasi?"

"I-I really don't know what'cha call them here, but they kinda look like javelinas! Only bigger, uglier an' meaner. Kinda like...!"

"Me?"

Bentley gulped and nodded slowly. _Oh no! Why did I say that?!_

Lasher fumbled for his whip and growled at Wilkes. "Tie th'whelp up to th'tree! He's 'bout to learn what happens to brats who mess with me!"

Wilkes nodded and began to step closer to the young hyena, who in turn nervously stepped back into the crowd. Wilkes was about the reach out his arm and grab Bentley by the scruff of his neck when Finn interfered. The spotted hyena blocked the way by placing himself between Wilkes and Bentley and crossed his arms.

"Lasher, don't! Please!" Ellie said and ran up to her brothers side. "H-he's just a boy! He didn't mean anythin' by it! Please sir, let him go! Just this once!"

When Lasher didn't answer, Finn snorted and cocked his head to the side. "Ain't it a bit too early in the mornin' to whip kids, dont'cha think?" He said dryly, which caused the wolverines left eye to twitch.

"Move outta th'way, y'two! Or ya want more already, Ellie?" Lasher pulled on his whip to add emphasis on his question. Ellie immediately shook her head and took a frightened step back. "I thought so. Wilkes! Git th'brat over 'ere already!"

"Ya heard 'im, move it!" Wilkes hissed and was about to push past the two spotted hyenas and grab the kid when Amas voice boomed from the crowd.

"Lay a finger on that hyena an' that will be last thing you'll ever be able to do with yer hands, Wilkes!" When the old, spiky lizard emerged from the crowd, Wilkes took a frightened jump back. "Same goes for YOU, Lasher! Didn'tcha hurt my hyenas 'nough yesterday?"

"Yer hyenas?" Lasher gaffed. "They're Mr Aventines hyenas, an' he's given us the duty to keep 'em in line an' I'm just tryin' to do my job here!" He smirked confidently at the elderly woman. "Ya don't scare me, witch!"

"Oh, I don't scare you, huh?" Ama chuckled grimly and pulled out an yellow object from her pocket and held it up so Lasher could see it. Bentley couldn't see what it was though, but everyone else did apparently, as they all gasped in unison and a few began to mumble with each other. Lashers eyes widened, but he didn't budge from the spot. "Y'know what this is, dont'cha?" Ama continued with a rather scary smirk and waved with the object, which kinda looked like some sort of doll.

"Y-yeah, so?" Lasher replied through clenched teeth and followed the doll with his eyes.

"Good, then I won't have to explain once again to ya what would happen if I were to do somethin' to it? Like stabbin' it with this needle?" A needle seemed to appear out of nowhere in her other hand, and as she brought the tip closer to the doll, Lasher seemed to grow paler and paler.

"Fine!" He eventually said and held back a growl in defeat. "But ya watch yourself, witch! One day ya won't have that handy-dandy thing with ya, an' then I'll have my way, just ya wait an' see!"

"Hah! Keep on dreamin', ya big brute!" Ama said and pointed the doll at the wolverine. "Just focus on yer job, Lasher, an' let us do ours! We'll take care of the kid ourselves!"

Lasher muttered to himself as he and the other overseers left, shortly followed by the other slaves. The crowd quickly disbanded as everyone went back to do their jobs, until there were only Bentley, Finn, Ellie, Toby and Ama left. Toby couldn't stop gawking at Bentley.

"Are ya completely outta yer mind, kid?!" The striped hyena exclaimed. For once he didn't stutter. "Y-you could've gotten us a-all into trouble with th-that little s-stunt!" Okay, never mind...

"I know, I know..." Bentley said and looked down at the ground. "It was stupid..."

"But..." Ellie said, her voice got Bentley to look up at her. "Why did ya do this? I'll admit I WAS laughin', I mean c'mon, it was hilarious! But... Why, Bentley? Why would ya do somethin' like this when you KNOW that Lasher would be furious!"

"I dunno..." The little brown hyena shrugged. "I guess I kinda did it for you, Ellie..." He paused and looked away from her shocked expression. "What they did to ya yesterday was wrong, and I just thought THEY were the ones who should be punished!"

Adding to everyone surprise, Finn burst out laughing. "Wow, Kiddo! You're completely crazy, ya know that?!" He said between his laughing fits.

Bentley chuckled and grinned sheepishly. "Well, somebody has to be it, right?"

…

To be able to make everyone, including Toby, to laugh like that had left Bentley with taste for more. He knew he couldn't make more traps like that for them anymore, but whenever he could, he would drop a comment that earned him at least a few chuckles from the slaves, and a slap from one of the overseers. But so far he hadn't gotten to taste the whip... yet!

And the next Sunday he and Cornelia met, she had brought a surprise for him; a pillowcase, full with books!

"Look, buster. I've been doin' some thinkin', an' come up with the best idea ever!" She said proudly and chucked one of the books at him, it landed hard on his chest and he was momentarily dazed from the impact before he could pick it up and look in it. "Someday in the future, I'll b'come a teacher! And I think I'll be needin' some trainin', so therefore I've decided to teach you!"

Bentley looked up at her with a puzzled look. "T-teach me?"

"Yeah! To read, write AND count! But!" She held up a warning finger. "This is SUPER secret! For some reason, you guys aren't allowed to learn these things, don't ask me why b'cause I have no idea really! An' therefore, if you DO learn, you must NEVER let anyone know that you can read, write or count! Capische?!" He nodded slowly. "Good! Now, I s'pose this is what we'll do for the next comin' years so we better get started..." She paused and broke of a twig from the bushes. "Let's start with the alphabet!" She began to draw something in the earth. "This is an..."

"Wait!" Bentley suddenly exclaimed, and earned a homicidal look from Cornelia for interrupting her. "There's somethin' I better tell ya..."

"Spill it!"

"I won't be havin' the Sundays off anymore, not after my birthday..."

"Uhu, and when is that?"

"Umm, May 15th? I think..."

"What?! That's only three weeks away!" She folded her arms and pouted. "Way to go tellin' me that NOW, buster!"

"Sorry..."

"Oh well, I guess we'll have to meet late at nights instead then... Meh, what a bother..." She turned back to the symbol on the ground. "Anyway, this is an 'A'!" She pointed at the symbol with the twig. "A, as in... Errm..." She rubbed her chin as she thought of words that begins with the letter 'A'. "Errm, Aristocrat! A as in... hmmm... Alphabet! A as in... eh... Awesome!"

"Angry?" Bentley said carefully.

"Hey, you get it already?! Haha! This'll be a piece of cake!" She laughed and drew another, different letter. "This is a 'B'! B, as in Bakery and Beanstalk!"

"And Bentley?" Bentleys ears perked up. This was fun!

Cornelia laughed to herself as she drew the next letter. "I bet you're cheatin', aren'tcha?!"

"N-no, Miss!"

Pfft, I know you ain't! I'm just messin' with ya! Oh, an' this is a tricky letter; C. But it's sometimes pronounced as 'K', as in 'Cornelia'!"

**Phah, told y'all it would be a long one xD! And THAT my friends, is how Bentley discovered how fun it was to prank people :P  
**

**And yeah, the Aventines are just a bunch of racist assholes -.-... Corny, your family has... issues...**


	10. The Change

**Whoa! Finally done with this! This is pretty much just a filler chappie, yet it took forever to write -.-...**

***** Chapter Ten : The Change *****

**Seven years later...**

Ten years is a very long time. A lot of things can happen, and people change. But the most drastic change probably happened to Bentley.

The little hyena who had arrived to the plantation ten years earlier, was now known as a troublemaker and a joker. From being brought to the plantation as a cub who had been taken away from everything and everyone he knew and loved, traumatized, scared and careful to even speak, he changed somewhere along his 10th birthday, and by the time he was a teenager he had become one hell of a pain in the ass to the overseers.

It had started the day after he placed a trap in Lashers house and humiliated him in front of everyone. He never put up traps like that again though, but he had other ways to make fun of the overseers; talk back with sarcastic comments, twist their orders, mimicking them and even dropped a few insults every now and then. All to make the other slaves laugh, and actually succeeding a couple of times only spurred him to go on. Funny, many called him. Stupid, even more said. Of course it didn't take long until the overseers already minimal patience ran out and he got to taste the whip.

He was thirteen, and got three lashes. He realized then why Ellie had cried so much when she got whipped; the mere three lashes had made it feel like his entire back was on fire and he had cried as well. But that didn't stop him. Nothing seemed to stop him!

A couple of times per month, he managed to get himself into enough trouble to earn himself another three or five lashes, ten if he managed to piss Lasher off really good, but it was almost as if he wanted to get whipped! And only a few years ago, he had begun to LAUGH at them! Soon, 'crazy' was added to the other slaves' description of him. And if they knew about his best friend, they would start calling him 'batshit insane'!

How they had managed to keep their friendship a secret for ten years was a miracle, they both thought. Sure, there was one who knew that Bentley and Cornelia was meeting secretly; Cornelias nanny Lucy, but she never told anyone. Mainly to use that knowledge to blackmail Cornelia if she would hide her keys again, refuse to get up in the mornings etc. But also because that slave was probably the only one who'd ever consider Cornelia as his best friend, since the young mountain lion had always been homeschooled by her private teacher Mr Bentler so getting new friends was hard for her. And she was rather... special.

For starters, she refused to wear dresses and they had to be at least THREE to manage to get a dress on her. In fact, she loathed everything considered 'girly' and her behavior was the least you would expect from a daughter of a rich plantation owner: she was crude, impatient, boyish, sarcastic, lazy and had the habit of belching by the dinner table. The latter was probably just to piss her parents off. But despite that, she had something her parents seem to lack: compassion, especially for the slaves.

All those years in which she had get to known Bentley, she had also begun to see things out of the slaves perspective on things and realized that not much that was said about them was true. And because of this, she often got into heated arguments with the other Aventines, in which she'd be the only one taking the slaves side. The argues however, would always end with her father, or uncle Matt, losing his temper and send her to her room, where she would have to break something in order to calm down.

Yes, she was a mean, spoiled, rich girl, but she was also Bentleys best friend. And he would rather take 100 lashes than losing her friendship.

Every night, after everyone gone to bed, they would both meet up at a secret place of theirs; the hayloft. Okay, it wasn't THAT much of a secret place since Chuck, Church and Finn worked in the stables all day and probably had work on the loft a couple of times a day. Bentley had noticed, on one of the days when he was lucky enough to have 'stable duty', that there was a ladder leading up to a platform by the furthest wall on the loft. According to Finn, that's where they used to keep the feed, but the floor was old and worn and could break under the heavy weight so they moved the feed and just simply stopped using the platform. Since Bentley and Cornelia was starting to outgrow the bush-tunnels, he thought that this would be the perfect place for them to meet! Besides, the stables and the blacksmith was just next to the wall, so it wouldn't be too hard for her to get there unnoticed either!

And on this night he was late. When he finally he got off the extra work he had to do because of the critique he gave one of the overseers, he had to run towards the stables. He knew that she hated it when he was late, and had probably stormed off a long time ago, leaving only an angry note. Therefore he was happily surprised when he climbed up the ladder and saw her sitting with her legs and arms crossed underneath the large, cracked window. Her ears flattened back and the black tip of her long tail twitched angrily.

"Uh, hi! You're still here?" He laughed nervously and dragged himself up on the platform, but she didn't answer. She just kept glaring at him. The light from an oil lantern reflected in her sea-green eyes and threw eerie shadows over her face. "Look, Corny, I'm sorry I'm...!"

"You're late!" She growled and interrupted him. "And DON'T call me Corny!"

"Sorry then, Cornelia"

"Why're ya so late anyway?!"

"Well... I kinda opened my big mouth and had to clean the outhouse as punishment..."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Dumbass!"

"Yeah, I know"

"And I guess they withdrew yer lunch t'day as well?" When he silently nodded in response, she let out an annoyed sigh and began to rummage through a bag she brought. "I figured as much..." She mumbled and pulled out a bundle wrapped in white cloth and threw it at him.

He caught it in the air and instantly recognized the scent of cornbread. He laughed gleefully and unwrapped the bundle and just as he thought: there was a piece of the pale yellow bread. "Aw geez, thanks! You're a lifesaver, Corny!" He said and began stuffing his face.

"Don't thank me! Lucy was the one who managed to save some! She sends her regards, by the way..."

"Ke be chanks chom me!"

"What did ya call me?!"

Bentley rolled his eyes and gulped down the bread currently occupying his mouth. "Tell her thanks from me!" He repeated.

"Fine, whatever..." She shrugged and began searching through her bag again. This time she pulled out a book and threw it at Bentley. He caught it, with his head. "So, I've got homework again... Algebra!"

Bentley grimaced and rubbed his aching head where the book had hit him. "That means I'M the one with homework, right?" She nodded, and he sighed and opened the math book.

Seven years ago Cornelia had begun a little project of hers: to see if Bentley could learn just like everyone else to read, write and count. Needless to say, it was a huge success and, as a matter of fact, he turned out to be even better than her at math! She never really understood the point with it all, and trying to solve a puzzle only made her head hurt so she had more or less given up on the subject. In return, she had asked, or demanded, that he taught her his old language, and that way he managed to avoid losing what was left of the memories of his old home.

When it came to her studies, Mr Bentler hated to tell her parents the truth: their daughter was lazy, slow and unmotivated when it came to the lessons, and she never did her homework on time, causing her grades to drop by every year. That is, until she realized she could have Bentley to do her homework and write cheating notes for her tests. Ever since then, her grades had been significantly better, and left Mr Bentler more confused than usual. She was still not paying any attention in class, but somehow her tests and homework assignments had skyrocketed! And he could never guess why!

Bentley didn't mind having to do her homework, he actually liked it! He thought math, especially algebra, was fun! But every time he told Cornelia that, he always got a funny frown and maybe a slap in the head, followed by a: "You are SUCH a freak!". But sometimes, like this night, he didn't want to do anything; he was WAY too tired and worn out from the long work day, and he never really slept well during the nights because of the nightmares. So the thought of having to use his brain even more wasn't especially exciting.

"Are ya sure ya can't do this on yer own for once?" He winced and blurred through the marked pages, telling what pages she had to do. "It's been a really long day an'..."

"How many times to I have to tell ya this, buster?! I. Can't. Do. This!" She exclaimed and threw her arms out. "YOU are the only one of us who actually understands this bullshit! Math was hard enough with just the numbers, but then some drunkass pedo-Greek bastard had to mix the god damn alphabet into this... Gumbo of Agony!"

Bentley couldn't help but to snicker. "Drunkass pedo-Greek bastard... Gumbo of Agony... Hehehe..."

"Yeah, what's so darn funny 'bout it?!" She crossed her arms again, leaned back against the wall and pouted. "B'sides, I've had a long day t'day too!"

"Yeah, it's SUCH hard work to get invited to fancy dinners, isn't it?"

"Drop the sarcasm, it's MY job! And both yes and no..." She pulled her knees up to her chin and threw her arms around them, averting her eyes.

Earlier that day, Bentley had seen Cornelia and her family leaving the farm, all dressed up and Cornelia looked like she was going to be embarrassed to death in that light blue dress. He had later learned that they had been invited to a dinner at a neighboring plantation; Willow Hill, owned by the Willow family. He could immediately tell that bringing it up troubled her greatly, and it sparked his curiosity.

"Whaddya mean 'both yes and no'? It ain't THAT painful for ya to stay fancy for a couple of hours, is it, Corny?"

"Never mind! And STOP callin' me Corny!" She muttered and narrowed her eyes at him. "Why aren't ya workin'?"

"That's what I've been doin' all day, Missy! Besides, I can tell somethin' happened on that dinner! C'mon, ya can tell me!"

"No! I ain't gonna talk 'bout it!"

"Y'know, I think it's gonna feel a LOT better if ya just talked 'bout it, no?"

"Why do ya even wanna know?!"

He shrugged and grinned sheepishly. "I'm curious by nature?"

She didn't reply, just averted her eyes again and gritted her teeth. He figured that she wasn't going to tell him after all, and slumped down next to her with the book. After a while he tilted his head at her.

"Ya got a pencil or somethin?" He asked and instantly she handed him a pencil, seemingly out of nowhere. He yanked it out from her grip. "Aksante!"

"Mwakaribishwa"

"Sorry, but the 'M' is still just somewhat silent, not entirely gone!"

"Fuck you!"

He snickered slyly. "Anytime, anyplace!" But that comment only earned him a slap to the back of his head, but it was worth it.

…

Bentley nearly fell asleep with his head looming over the book, but was brought back when Cornelia flicked her fingers at his nose. She was peeking over his shoulder and watched as he solved one problem after the other. Nothing of what he wrote made any sense at all to her.

He stifled a yawn and sleepily rubbed one of his eyes. "Can't I go back now? It's midnight, and we, or at least I, have to rise with the sun t'morrow an'..."

"Good job!" She said with a wide grin, he blinked at her in puzzlement. "Ya said the sun! Instead of Mama Kubwa!"

"Huh? Oh... Yeah..." He said lowly and averted his eyes. "I... Still can't..."

Cornelias grin disappeared and she rubbed the back of her neck, her read hair she kept in a ponytail, fell over her shoulder as she did so. "H-hey, I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have showed ya that astrology book, should I?" He slowly shook his head. "Sorry again... I just thought that, since ya sooner or later would find out the truth anyway, then I would probably better be the one to tell ya... I mean, I'm yer friend n'all..."

His mouth slowly tugged up in a careful smile and he turned his head slightly to her. "It's okay, Corny, really!"

"No it ain't!" She protested with a scowl and stubbornly folded her arms. "I took yer religion away from ya!"

"I told'cha, Corny; it's okay! I really don't care 'bout that anymore..."

"Personally, I think all kinds of religion are just big heaps of buffalo crap, but you didn't! Y-you were completely heart broke that day and I still feel bad 'bout it!" She pouted and looked away. "Me! I'M feelin' guilty! And I hate you for makin' me feel guilty!" Suddenly her eyes turned to the window and widened in shock. "Uh-oh..." She said, making Bentley turn around as well.

The top floor and the attic of the Aventines residence was visible from the loft and usually all windows of the great mansion were pitch black and empty by this time, but not this time. One room was lit. And Cornelia seemed to know exactly which room it was.

"That's my parents room!" She gasped and stuffed the books back into her bag and leaped for the ladder. The old floor underneath her feet creaked ominously, but she didn't seem to care. "Sorry, gotta go! See ya 'round t'morrow!" She hollered as she quickly slid down the ladder instead of climbing it and bolted out. "DON'T be late, this time!"

Bentley knew she was too busy to hear him, so he didn't bother to answer. He looked down through the window at the blacksmiths roof. It had been a while since he last climbed something, several years in fact. With a chuckle, he decided to climb that way down tonight. But before that, he ate what was left of the cornbread, but stopped with a piece of bread half-way to his mouth when he noticed something lying on the floor. He frowned worriedly when he saw that Cornelia had forgotten her notebook.

With a sigh, he picked it up and shook his head. "Sloppy, Corny. Very sloppy..." He chuckled and quickly began to skim through it while chewing on the last breadcrumbs. Most of it were his notes, of course. And he could see that on the few notes she actually wrote, she was trying to mimic his handwriting, probably to lower the risk of suspicion from her teacher. When he encountered a couple of drawings, he couldn't help but to chortle out a laugh. Most of the little doodles was picturing Cornelia hitting uncle Matt in the head with a large object, probably drawn out of boredom during a class.

He was lost, just looking through the book, for a long time until he finally snapped back to reality and remembered that he still had to go to bed. Tomorrow was going to be another long day of hard work, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to it. But after ten years, you'll just have to learn to live with it. With a groan, he stood up and stretched before hiding the notebook underneath one of the boards. Hopefully, Cornelia would find it on her own.

…

Cornelia ran as fast as she could home, threw the bag up on her back and began climbing up the vines that grew past her window on the houses wall. One, or maybe both, of her parents were awake, and if they found her bed empty at this time of the night? Well, it wouldn't be easy to explain, therefore she climbed as fast as she could, climbed through the window, threw her bag in under the big bed in the middle of the room and dove in under the pillows and blankets. She had just wrapped herself up like a cocoon to hide that she was still wearing clothes when she heard footsteps outside her door. Her heart was beating like mad and she tried to calm her breathing down when the door opened and her mother peeked in. She cursed to herself, clamped her eyes shut and pretended to be fast asleep.

Grace frowned as she looked around her daughters room, but found nothing out of the ordinary. "Odd... I thought I heard something..."She muttered to herself and was about to leave when she noticed the window was still open. She sighed and walked over to the window to close it. Cornelia held her breath just in case when her mother walked past her bed and looked around on the outside before slamming the window shut.

Not until Grace was gone did Cornelia dare to breathe out and slip out of bed. _THAT was a close call! TOO darn close!_

…

When Granny Ama woke him up in the morning, Bentley had barely shut his eyes. Or at least, that's what it felt like. Her cheerful "G'mornin', hun!" was returned with a sleepy and drawn out groan, and it took longer time than usual for him to drag himself up from bed, get dressed and walk down the stairs. He managed to make his way to the table where Chuck already was seated, sat down and almost fell face-first sleeping into his bowl of gruel.

Ama arched a scaly eyebrow. "Looks like someone didn't sleep well t'night, hm?" She said and Bentley nodded with his head hung low over the table, after he managed to process her sentence in his half-asleep state. The old, scaly lizard frowned worriedly. "Is it them nightmares again?"

Bentley couldn't remember dreaming anything at all during those few hours he managed to get some sleep, but he still nodded. It WAS still almost true, the nightmares usually kept him awake. Ama looked like she was thinking while Toby strolled in through the door. Toby nodded shortly to the others before grabbing his own bowl of gruel and sat down next to Bentley. But instead of starting to eat the brownish white slop, he just stared at it emptily before saying: "I had a really weird dream..."

"Wh-what happened?" Bentley yawned and picked up his spoon and began poking into the gruel.

"Well, first I woke up an' thought I saw Miss Cornelia run outside my window with some kind of bag in her hand... Then I saw you, Bentley, climbin' down the barns walls"

While Bentley stared at Toby with his spoon stuck in the gruel and a speechless expression on his face, Chuck and Ama began to laugh. "Miss Cornelia outside yer window an' Bentley literally climbin' 'round on walls? HAH! Good one!" Chuck grinned and corrected the rolled up cloth covering his head and ears.

"Actually, he was climbin' DOWN the wall" Toby added with a cautious chuckle.

To not seem suspicous Bentley began to laugh as well. However his laugh sounded weird and forced and got the others to look at him funny. But they never got to ask him if he felt alright when the door was barged open and first Ellie was being pushed inside by Finn, before the big brother himself dashed in and closed the door. He looked stressed.

"Finn? What the...?" Chuck began, but was hushed by Finn.

"He's got some crazy plan to escape..." Ellie muttered and folded her arms. "Again!"

"It ain't crazy, Ellie! I've got a plan to get us ALL outta here!" He retaliated and turned to the others with an optimistic and excited glint in his eyes. They all stared at him with puzzled looks on their faces. "Look, I drove the Aventines to the Willow Hill Plantation earlier t'day, an' while the masters were havin' dinner with the other family, I explored the rest of the plantation an' talked to a couple of the slaves there. Some of them are plannin' to escape sometime this week an' they're gonna take a detour to our plantation to pick us up!"

"Finn!" Ama exclaimed and slammed her wooden spoon on the bench, creating a loud bang that interrupted the spotted hyena. "Are ya outta yer mind?! We can't run away with them, an' ya know we can't!"

Finn calmly held up one of his hands. "I know, I know what you're thinkin', granny. But I'm serious, THIS is the opportunity we have been waitin' for! One of the other slaves know of a secret trail, known as 'the Underground Railroad', an' if we follow them, there's no way any Catchers will find us! They don't know 'bout the Railroad!"

Now it was Chucks turn to object. "Ya don't know that! They ALWAYS finds ya, no matter where you're tryin' to hide! No, I'd advice ya to NOT follow them, Finn. We ain't leavin'... None of us!"

"I'm sorry, Chuck, but I don't wanna live the rest of my life as a slave, an' I sure as hell ain't gonna let Ellie an' Bentley waste their lives here either!"

"If ya necessarily have to try to escape, which is a very foolish idea no doubt about it, DON'T drag the youngsters into it! If the Catchers catch ya, they won't show ANY mercy!" The argument between the two men began to boil up and they had begun to raise their voices at each other. Bentleys ears went back in fear, but he couldn't help but to listen to them anyway.

"Even if the chance that any of us makes it out an' is able to get back home where we belong is minimal, it's still a chance. The risk that the Catchers catches us is greater, I know, but I'm willin' to take that chance for freedom!"

"I SURE AS HELL AIN'T!" Chuck roared and stood up hastily from his chair, sending it flying against the wall. "I ain't gonna let ya run away with ANYONE else! If ya wanna get caught an' tortured for tryin' to escape, IT'S YER OWN FAULT! You're NOT draggin' ANYONE with you! Not Ellie, not Bentley, no one! Y'hear me?! NO ONE!"

"WHY are ya so afraid of what could happen, that ya forget 'bout the rest?! What 'bout freedom, huh?! You really wanna LIVE like THIS?! This is no life! We're bein' treated worse than stock, we've got no rights WHAT-SO-EVER! All our life we have to obey the big man with the whip, workin' ev'ryday of our lives until we die old an' broken, just like Sham an' Fiddler! It just ain't right!"

"No, you're right! This ain't right! But what can WE do 'bout it? NOTHIN'! I swear, Finn. If you run off with those other slaves the catchers WILL catch you! An' they WILL make ya pay! Please, Finn, I beg of ya now: DON'T GO! None of us wants to see 'em bring ya back mutilated an' cut up! Think 'bout Ellie! Do ya think she would enjoy to see her one an' only brother like that?"

"Why're ya so afraid of those Catchers, Chuck?!" Finns words seemed to hit spot-on with the wild dog, since Chuck staggered back. He still loomed over the table however, and narrowed his eyes at the spotted hyena. "Ya don't know for sure if they'll catch us an' even if they do, I doubt they'll torture us for it!"

"Yes... They will" Chuck muttered lowly and stood up straight. "The Catchers ain't nothin' but a gang of monsters, who take pleasure in makin' other people suffer." Slowly, he reached his hands up to the cloth he always wore around his head. "A long time ago, back when I was just a mere boy, my brother got a plan to escape with me. We left durin' the night. We were careful to not leave any tracks b'hind us, but somehow they STILL found us in the mornin'! I got away easy, but my brother... They cut him up so bad he died..." He uncoiled the fabric around his head in a painfully slow fashion, as if he was hesitant to show what was underneath. It suddenly hit Bentley that he had never seen Chuck without the cloth around his head. Curiosity mixed with fear grabbed the young teenager and he tilted his head slightly to the side with a worried look on his face. "Don't look away now, Finn. THIS is what could happen to ya..." The wild dog said lowly and with a final yank, the turban-like fabric was unwrapped and fell off his head. Ama knew what to expect so she closed her eyes and turned away, knowing that she wouldn't be able to handle it.

Where Chucks large, round ears once had been, was now tufts of hair sticking up from twisted lumps of scar tissue around the two black holes. Bentley felt his stomach churn and Toby looked even more frightened than before. Finn staggered back and Ellie turned away, just like Ama did.

"As I said I got away easy. While my brother was cut up like a Thanksgivin' turkey, they settled with just cuttin' off my ears b'fore givin' me back to the plantation." With a sigh, he began to wrap the long strip of cloth around his head again. "An' now ya see why I can't let ya run away, Finn."

"We all need ya here, Finn, and please; think of yer sister!" Ama pleaded as well.

As if on a cue, Ellie ran up to Finn and threw her arms around him. "Listen to them, Finn! I TOLD ya it was a bad idea!" She said with a voice that sounded dangerously close to a sob. "Please, Finn! Don't try to run away!"

Finn slowly wrapped an arm around his little sister, but he looked torn and at a loss on what to do. He wanted to get out of this hellhole and take his sister, Bentley, Toby and the others with him. But everyone seemed to be too afraid of the Catchers to come with him, and to leave them behind didn't feel right.

Eventually he squeezed his arm around Ellie and pulled her closer in a short, tight hug. "Fine... I won't..." He said, to everyones relief.

"Alright, let's never talk 'bout this again!" Ama said with a stern voice and placed the entire cauldron of gruel on middle of the table. "Let's eat breakfast first! Anyone who knows how lucky the others are when it comes to food?"

"I think Hamish an' his family is havin' a bit of a struggle when it comes to gettin' the food to last 'til the end of the week" Chuck said and only had to exchange a quick glance with Ama before he got up and loaded a tray with bowls of gruel and head over to Hamish, the house just across from Granny Amas cabin.

Suddenly Toby turned with a troubled frown to Bentley. "An' Bentley, please! Do ya think ya can cut down on the smartass backtalkin' attitude t'day? Lasher is THIS close to just tie ya up to the tree an' whip ya to shreds any day now! At least, that's what I heard him say..."

Bentley chuckled. "I dunno, can't promise anythin' Toby! B'sides, Lasher ain't THAT scary once ya get to know him!" Ellie rolled her eyes in response, while Toby whimpered and shook his head.

…

"Alright, Miss! Time to rise n' shine!" Lucy said, strolling into the room and roughly parted the thick curtains and let the sunshine lit up Cornelias room. The drowsy redhead hissed at the sunlight and wrapped herself up in the blankets to shield herself from the wicked light. "Aw c'mon, when did ya return last night?"

"Too late..." Cornelia mumbled in return, her already low voice was muffled by the blankets.

"Oh well, that ought' teach ya to come back in time!" The cheetah folded her arms. "Time to get up, Miss!"

"Bite me!"

"Really? Y'know, it would be a shame if yer father were to find out 'bout ya an' Bentley, huh?"

"Please, Lu. Not today! Why do I have to get up this early anyway?!"

"Mr Aventine would like to speak with you 'bout yesterday..."

Cornelia jolted up from bed, glared at Lucy for a couple of seconds before falling backwards again with a groan. She rolled herself up in the blanket again. "Too bad! Go tell 'Mr Aventine', that his daughter has been turned into a burrito, and burritos doesn't have to talk to anyone 'bout anythin' that happened yesterday!"

"...It's THAT bad, huh?" When Cornelia didn't answer, Lucy sighed and sat down at the edge of the bed. "Maybe he isn't that bad, Miss? I think ya just gotta give him a chance BEFORE ya throw a punch in his face an' runs off. Who knows? Ya might even fall in love with him?"

The redhead poked her head up from the blanket and scowled at the cheetah, sitting on her bed. "Me? Fall in love with someone like HIM?! Why OF COURSE! How SILLY of me! Maybe I just IMAGINED him bein' a personality-constipated fancy-pansy on a WAY too high roadrunner!" She spat and dove back in under the blankets. "Yes, Lu. He's THAT bad!" She paused and let out a sigh before adding in a low voice: "At least you guys get to choose who ya wanna marry..."

Lucy tilted her head and frowned sadly. "Can't you at least talk with yer father 'bout it? Maybe if ya tell him, he might change his mind an' call this whole thing off?" But another glare from Cornelia confirmed that neither of them really believed that.

"Yeah, right! Ya know dad ain't changin' his mind! Especially not with things like this!"

"I know... Maybe it was just wishful thinkin'..."

Cornelia didn't answer, she just grabbed one of the pillows tighter and buried her face in it. "Lucy... I don't wanna marry anyone! Not yet, at least; I'm just barely seventeen! And especially not someone like Phillip Willows!"

"I understand..." Lucy nodded slowly and got up from the bed again. "But that doesn't change the fact that ya gotta get outta that bed, Miss! Now!"

"No! I'm a burrito t'day, so git!"

**So yeah, that's 'bout it ^^... Hopefully next chapter won't be late like this one... Anyway, see y'all!**


	11. Truth or dare?

**Moral of this chapter? Never play Truth or Dare with a drunk mountain lion... xD**

**Oh, and it was supposed to be one long chapter, but it got too long so I decided to split it in two parts, so the next part will be up in a jiffy ;)**

***** Chapter Eleven : Truth Or Dare? *****

Bentley considered himself lucky to be working in the stables that day. Chucks back had been acting up a lot lately, so therefore they were in need of an extra hand. The overseers hardly ever bothered to monitor the stables, they knew that the critters required too much work for the workers, so slacking off was mostly out of the question. And he knew that more trouble with the overseers was the last thing he needed right now, as he was already number one on their hit-list.

He liked working in the stables and with the critters, especially with the roadrunners. The birds reminded him about the ostriches his uncle told him about, just smaller and not as dangerous with their kicks. Even if a kick from an all to angered and annoyed roadrunner COULD give one pretty mean wounds and possibly break a bone or two, and they seemed to have a thing for jabbing their sharp beaks close to peoples eyes.

Later that evening, Finn and Bentley stayed behind to finish up in the stables. All that was left was to throw in some extra straw to Gabby, seeing as the javelina was expected to give birth any day now. The two hyenas were talking about Finn and Ellies great grandfather as they threw down straw directly from the loft through a hatch in the roof using pitchforks. Apparently, he had been a prisoner of war, sold by the lions who imprisoned him during a raid and ended up on a cotton plantation just outside of New Orleans, back when it was still legal to ship slaves across the Atlantic.

"Makes sense!" Said Bentley with a nod as he jabbed the pitchfork into a bundle of straw and shoved it down through the hatch. "Everyone knows it's always been tense between Spotted Ones and Simb... errm, I mean lions! Not only do they fight over territory and huntin' grounds, but from I've heard there was once a mercilessly long drought that caused a war between hyenas, leopards, and lions! Yer great granpa might be from that war!"

Finn nodded as he leaned on the pitchfork. "Yeah... I just think it's so amazin'..."

Bentley frowned and tilted his head. "What's so amazin'? The war?"

"What? No!" Finn hurried to shake his head. "I meant it's amazin' that you're actually from the place me n' Ellie only heard vague, retold stories 'bout! You've really been there!"

"Actually, no, I ain't been to the plains where the Spotted Ones live. In fact, I never left the jungles before, very few of us did..."

"That doesn't matter, you still know a lot, don'tcha?"

Bentley shrugged. "A little bit... But just like you I've just heard vague, retold stories"

"Wow... It's still just... Wow!" Finn chuckled and shook his head disbelievingly. "Y'know, I've always wanted to return home, but after everythin' you've told us all just 'bout the jungles I've really made up my mind: I WILL return home someday, an' I hope Ellie, Toby an' you wanna come with me then. I mean, ya wanna go back home to yer family an' friends too, right?"

Bentley stopped with the pitchfork in the air and his shoulders slouched when he thought of his home. Everyone whose names he had forgotten, his aunt and uncle, his cousin and his sister. And father. He nodded sadly. "More than anythin'... Wait, ya ain't still thinkin' 'bout runnin' away with those Willow Hill slaves, are ya?"

Finn hesitated. "I... I have been thinkin' a lot 'bout it... And to tell the truth; I really wanna! But I can't..." He sighed and continued his work. "I can't leave you guys b'hind, an' I can't take y'all with me either in case Chuck is right an' the Catchers will catch us! I promised our ma I wouldn't let anyone harm Ellie, but if I drag her with me on a dangerous run like that, I'd just break my promise... Again!"

"So... You'll be stayin' then?" Bentley asked with a faint, relieved smile and Finn nodded in response.

They were both silent as they continued to shove straw down the hatch until they both decided on a reasonable amount and proceeded to go down and continue to chuck the straw over to Gabbys pen. As they were doing that, Finn looked over at Bentley with a curious tilt of his head.

"Hey, Bentley..." He said and Bentley paused to hear what Finn had to say. "There's one thing I've been curious 'bout for years now, an' if ya don't mind me askin'; what happened?"

"Eh?" Bentley frowned nervously and cocked his head to the side, even if he knew what Finn was asking about.

"Well, what happened? How did you get here in the first place? I know it was captain Tip who kidnapped you, but how could he have done that? You said so yourself that ya never leaved the jungles, and so far I know ships can't sail on the rivers?"

Bentleys ears drooped and he lowered his head as he continued to throw in straw for the javelina. He was quiet for a while, and Finn was about to believe that he didn't wanna answer when he finally opened his mouth. "I disobeyed my father, and dragged my sister into the mess as well..."

"Soo, this was kinda yer punishment?" Finn paused and Bentley hesitated before he slowly nodded. "No offense, but yer father seem like the harsh kind, wasn't he?"

"Definitely not!" Bentley hurried to retaliate and his tone made Finn flinch in surprise. "He was anythin' but harsh! My dad was the fun and forgivin' kind! Perhaps too much fun and forgivin'..." He let his shoulders slouch again. "He'd let me and my sister get away with anythin'... Maybe I wouldn't have run off with my sister if he had been more stern? I knew I wouldn't get into much trouble for it, so it didn't seem like such a big deal back then... But if I had known that we'd get caught by the Spotted Ones, and taken to the slavers, I wouldn't have left in the first place! And definitely not if I would have known that dad would be killed for tryin' to free me an' her!" He gritted his teeth and his grip around the pitchfork tightened so his knuckles turned white. "Dad was shot b'cause of me... He was killed b'cause of me! That's what I keep seein' in my nightmares; dad gettin' shot right in front of me. I can still feel his blood splash on my face. He must really hate me for what I've done, or else he wouldn't let me see it again over and...!" He was interrupted by a heavy, yet careful, hand on his shoulder. He noticed that his eyes were getting teary, so he hurried to wipe them with his sleeve before turning to face Finn.

"Hey, I'm sorry, Bentley. I didn't know..." Finn had a sympathetic look on his face, sad even. "I shouldn't have brought it up, I'm sorry..."

"It's alright..." Bentley replied and looked down at the ground and chuckled weakly. "I always get too emotional when I talk 'bout dad..." He scooped up the last of the straw on the floor before throwing it into Gabbys pen. "We're gettin' late for dinner, aren't we?" He said to switch the subject, and when he turned back to Finn, he almost began laughing at the spotted hyenas shocked face.

"Damn! You're right!" He exclaimed and slapped himself in the forehead. "Man, Ellie's the one who was s'posed to be doin' the cookin' t'day! She's gonna kill me for bein' late!"

Bentley looked around hastily before nodding to Finn. "You can go if ya want to! I'll finish up here, no worries!"

Finn blinked in surprise at the teen before smiling gratefully. "Really? Thanks!" He hurried to leave the pitchfork hanging on a hook on the wall before bolting out. "I owe ya one, Bentley!" He shouted before disappearing.

Bentley chuckled and left his pitchfork right beside Finns before getting a big brush. It wasn't that much left to do; only to swipe the floor, close the hatch to the loft, make sure everything is locked and turn off the lights. Finn didn't owe him THAT much, really.

"Finally! I thought he'd never leave!" Bentley had been busy in his own mind while brushing all the dust and debris into a big pile on the floor, so when the familiar, feminine yet surprisingly rough and husky, voice was heard from the loft, he yelped and almost dropped the brush when he jumped to the side.

He snapped his head up and saw Cornelias head peeking out through the hatch. "C-Corny?! What the...?!" He exclaimed, his voice higher pitched than normal. But when he remembered that far from everyone was asleep this early, he lowered his voice to a hiss. "What the hell are ya doin' here, Corny?!"

"Oh nothin'! Just tryin' to escape my jackass family an' couldn't help but to overhear you an' that other hyena talkin'" She lied down on her stomach and let her elbows rest over the edge. She held something bottle-like in one of her hands. "Sorry to hear 'bout yer dad, bro"

"H-how long have you been up there!?"

"A couple of hours" She said with a roll of her eyes. "Aren'tcha gonna join me up here instead?"

"Sorry, gotta... Gotta finish up here first!" Bentley hurried to continue the floor swiping. "But what if they come here lookin' for ya?!"

"Nah, I doubt anyone in my family would want to see me right now, I threw a porcelain bird at my dads face before lockin' myself up in my room. I think I heard it crash!"

Bentley stopped swiping and looked back up at Cornelia. "Why did you do that?" She hesitated and took a gulp from the bottle in her hand. He frowned when he saw the bottle. "And what is that?"

"I dunno, but there's a shitload of alcohol in it!" She replied and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Want some?"

Bentley stopped brushing the floor and frowned worriedly at his friend. "Corny? What's happened?"

"Nothin'" She mumbled and averted her eyes. "Rich-girl-problems, y'know..."

"But, why are ya drinkin'?"

"No! I ain't drinkin'!" She protested and took another gulp. "It's just that..." She paused and slouched over the edge again and sighed. "Nevermind..."

"What's wrong, Corny? I can tell somethin's wrong, so stop tryin'...!"

"Do you guys believe in marriage?"

"M-marriage?" Bentley blinked in confusion. "Y-yeah, some do... But what has that to...?"

"You guys can marry anyone ya want, right?"

"Yeah, if master allows us to... Corny?" Cornelia was silently staring down at the floor below her. If he hadn't known better, he'd think that she looked sad.

"You guys are so lucky, y'know that?" She mumbled after a while. "Yesterday I found out that my parents, and the Willows has been planning mine and Phillip Willows marriage ever since I was five... Without tellin' me 'bout it!"

"And that's bad, I guess?"

"Of COURSE it's bad, dumbass!" She exclaimed and looked back down at him with an angry frown. "You've never met the Willows, have you?!"

"Obviously?"

"Well lucky you then! They are nothin' but a bunch of humor-freed snobs with personalities like rocks! And their son is worst of them all!" She shuddered. "I've never met someone like him b'fore! I mean, c'mon! He smiles like this!" To demonstrate, she glared at him with a flat, expressionless face.

"Oh..."

"I can't stand that guy! And guess what?! Yesterday, he proposed to me! Ev'ryone probably expected me to faint with happiness or somethin'!" She clasped her hands together and continued with the girliest voice she could: "Oh, Phillip! Yes! I do! Oh I do! I've been waitin' for this day ALL my life! HURK!" She made a gagging sound and stuck her tongue out in disgust.

"So, I guess that's not what you said, was it?"

"No. I punched his ugly face and ran away!" She got up on her knees and took another swig from the bottle. "Dad told me that they will come here tomorrow, and when he asks me here I better answer yes... It's no use in tryin' to create my own life an' future, since my parents already took care of that for me..." She leaned backwards and sighed. "I fuckin' hate my life..."

Cornelia vanished from his sight, so Bentley sighed and leaned the brush against the wall before climbing up the narrow, steep stairs up to the loft. He saw his friend sitting with her back against a big haybale, her knees pulled up to her chin and her tail curled up in front of her feet. Her ears drooped and she hugged her legs tightly as her eyes flickered to him.

"I don't wanna marry him, Bentley. I can't stand him, never has and never will..." She said lowly when he sat down next to her. "Even if I did like him even the slightest, I don't wanna marry anyone! At least not yet! I'm not ready! And I've told my dad that but... But he doesn't listen to me. He never does... Nobody ever listens to me!"

Bentley tilted his head and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I listen to you, Corny!"

She looked at Bentley from the corner of her eyes. "Wow, great! One guy listens to me, and he's a fuckin' nobody!" She mumbled and rolled her eyes. But when she saw him turn his head away and slowly remove his hand her shoulder, she cursed and turned to face him. "Damn, I'm sorry, Bentley! I-I didn't mean it!"

"Yeah you did..." He turned his head back to her and smiled again. "But it's okay, you're right!"

"No I'm not! I don't know why I said that!" She protested, and Bentley did his best to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. Cornelia just had to be right! Always! "You ain't no nobody, Bentley! You're a somebody! You're my friend!" She took another swig of the bottle and grinned at him. "Whaddya say, friend? We talk 'bout somethin' else? Seriously, I didn't come here to cry 'bout my problems, y'know!"

"Actually, I gotta finish up my work here and then head back home. I'm already late for dinner, and neither Ellie nor granny are especially fond of people comin' late. Sorry, Corny, maybe later?" He was about to stand up and walk over to the hatch to close it when Cornelia grabbed his shirt and pulled him back down on the floor.

"Hey, I didn't say ya could leave!" She growled and grabbed the front of his shirt again to hold him.

He sighed and tried to pry her hand away. "Calm down, Corny! I'll be back later, don't worry!" He said and managed to get her to loosen her grip. "I bet anyone sooner or later will come back to look for me, and then they'll probably find you and we'll both have a lot to explain. Now does that sound temptin'?"

She growled and reluctantly let go of his shirt. "Fine!" She hissed and watched him as he got up and closed the hatch. "But don't be late! I'll wait here, so don't keep me waitin' too long!"

"I wouldn't wanna risk it!"

…

So he finished up the work in the stable, under constant reminders from Cornelia to NOT be late, and ran as fast as he could back to Amas cabin. Lucky for him, there was still some food left. But as he already figured, Ellie and Ama instantly bombarded him with questions of why he was so late. Ellie loosened up a bit after hearing that he was late because he took over for Finn.

Bentley quickly gulped the, by now cold, soup and the stale piece of bread and pretended that he was sleepy enough to fall asleep right there on the spot. But he waited until everyone had returned to their homes and Ama gone to bed until he sneaked out and made his way to the stable. It was quiet and dark when he got there, as usual, and the first thing he did was to run up the steep wooden stair up to the loft and look around. Nothing was seen, or heard, from the hills of hay and straw, so he was about to climb up the ladder to their usual rendezvous point when suddenly someone covered his eyes with her hands from behind.

"Guess who!" Cornelia chirped, and Bentley rolled his eyes and yanked his head away.

"Umm, Corny?" He said when he turned around and noticed the silly, slightly dazed, grin on her face. "Are you okay?"

"Okay?! Am I okay?! Are you kiddin' with me!?" She giggled and spun around on the spot. "I feel GREAT!"

Bentley frowned. "W-where's that bottle?"

"No way! It's mine!"

"Corny, I'm not gonna take it away from you! Just, where is it?" She giggled again and pointed at something that glimmered in the straw. He walked over to the dark green glass bottle and picked it up. It was nearly empty, except for a little swig swishing on the bottom. "Holy cow, Corny! You're drunk!" He turned to her with a frightened look on his face. "We gotta get you back home!"

"No! I don't wanna go back! Never ever!" She exclaimed and pouted. "I'm happy here and now!"

"That's just because you're drunk!" Bentley hid the bottle among the straw and hurried over to her. "Don't worry, I'll help you down the stairs" He tried to grab her arm, but she yanked herself free from him.

"I thought you were my friend, Bentley!" She whined dramatically, and Bentley groaned in annoyance.

"Please, Corny! Stop, you're shitfaced right now and can't think straight. You HAVE to go home!"

"You're not my mom! You can't tell me what to do!" Suddenly her pouty frown was replaced by a sneaky grin as she catwalked up to him, causing him to take an uncertain step back. When she threw her arms around his neck, he yelped and tried to take another step back.

"C-Corny?!"

"You're so damn tall... I used to be taller than you, y'know!" She smiled and nuzzled his neck. He gulped when he felt her long whiskers tickle. "I miss those good ol' days..."

"Y-yeah, sure" He said and tried to pry her arms away from him. "Good times, good times! Could you please let me go now?"

She pulled her head back and smiled slyly as she loosened her arms around his neck. But instead of letting go, she suddenly pushed him back and giggled when he yelped in surprise, staggered and fell backwards in the hay. She squatted down in front of him and waited for him to sit up, smiling innocently.

"What was that for?!" He mumbled bitterly and tried to pick the dried straws out from his hair and mane.

"Let's play a game!" She giggled, and he looked up at her with a frightened look on his face.

"A-a game?"

"Yeah! Let's play Truth or Dare!"

Bentley frowned and shook his head. "I don't think that's..."

"I wanna play Truth or Dare!" If she could, she would've stomped her foot on the ground.

"Fine! But on one condition!" He said and raised a finger at her, she curiously tilted her head. "That you go home afterward, and don't object! You're really drunk right now, and I don't want you to go and do anythin' stupid!"

She thought about it for a while, or at least tried as well as she could, before nodding. "Okeydokey! You first; Truth or Dare!"

"Eh, Truth!"

"Wimp!" She snorted. "Anyway, do you ever masturbate?"

"W-WHAT?!" He flinched and felt his entire face blush.

"Answer the question! And you picked Truth, so you have to tell me the truth!"

Bentley now felt even his eartips turn brightly red. "N-no! You can't just ask...!"

"Yes I can! I can ask whatever I want!" She giggled and her grin widened. "It's a simple yes or no!"

"Ugh... I... I..." He stuttered and fumbled with his hands in embarrassment, which caused Cornelia to burst out in a shrill laughter.

"I take that as a yes!" She batted her eyelashes at him, drunkenly. "Do you ever think of me when you...?"

"NO! DEFINITELY NOT! ONE QUESTION ONLY!" He yelled with an abnormally high pitched voice, his face more red than ever. "Y-your turn; Truth or Dare?" His voice was still shaky.

"Dare!" She replied instantly and stuck her tongue out.

"Fine! I dare you to go home and go to bed!"

"Nope! I refuse!" She folded her arms across her chest.

"What?! You can't refuse!" He retaliated and gritted his teeth. "You made me answer that stupid question, now you have to do what I say!"

"No, I don't!" She snickered and tilted her head upwards. "B'cause my family owns you, and that means that you're mine as well! You CAN'T tell me what to do b'cause you belong to ME!"

Bentley flattened his ears to his neck and gave her a flat frown. "I hate you right now..."

She giggled. "Truth or Dare?"

"I don't wanna play that with you anymore!"

"Truth or Dare or I'll scream for my dad?"

He growled bitterly and averted his eyes. "Dare..." It seemed to be just what she had been waiting for, as she smiled mischievously and crept closer to him. He frowned and tried to lean back to get away. "Corny? What...?" He gulped nervously when she stopped, her face only a few inches away from his.

"I dare you to kiss me" She said lowly, still with that mischievous smile.

"Kiss you?!" He exclaimed and tried to crawl back, but lost his footing in the loose hay. "I-I can't do that, Corny! I'm sorry, but if anyone finds out...!"

"Oh c'mon, just a kiss?" She tilted her head to side and straightened up. "A kiss won't kill anyone!"

"B-but..." He stuttered and his eyes flickered to the side. "I can't!"

"Why not!?"

"B'cause... Well... If yer dad finds out 'bout this he'll KILL me!"

"Then it's an order! I'm orderin' you to kiss me, buster!"

He slowly sat up straight and looked at her with a mix of confusion and worry. It was bad enough that Mr Aventine would go ballistic if he ever found out that his daughter had been meeting secretly with one of his slaves for the last ten years... Bentley sighed and slowly shook his head. "O-okay then..." He cautiously leaned closer to her and planted a quick peck on her cheek. "There, happy now?"

The redhead looked far from happy. "What was that?!" She growled bitterly and narrowed her eyes at him.

"I-I kissed you, happy now?"

"That wasn't a kiss..."

"Yes it wa...!" He didn't get to finish the sentence until she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him closer, silencing him by pressing her lips against his. The kiss caught him off guard and his eyes widened in surprise. At first, his mind went blank and he was at a loss at what to do, but then he slowly placed his hand behind her neck and kissed her back.

She chuckled and broke the kiss, pulling her head back. "THAT was a kiss, dummy!"

"I see..." He couldn't help but to smile and nestled his fingers into her red hair. She leaned closer again. "Another, huh?"

"Hell yes..." She mumbled and locked lips with him again.

Now it was his turn to break away and sighed; "What the hell are we doin'?"

"We're 'bout to do somethin' very stupid, now shut yer trap an' kiss me..."

…

Next morning when Bentley woke up, he felt disoriented and for a second he thought he was sleeping on the loft. After a few moments of clarity, he realized: he WAS sleeping on the loft! He mumbled something incoherent and sleepy and tried to sit upright, but something on his chest held him down. That was when he heard it; a strange purring sound. He was a bit scared to look down and when he did, he instantly regretted it.

Cornelia was heavily sleeping, curled up around him with her head resting on his chest. Her long, red hair was tangled and strands of hay was sticking out here and there. She was the source of the purring sound. But suddenly she went silent and shifted, probably waking up as well. She tilted her head up, narrowed her sea-green eyes at him and growled lowly.

"Oh hell no..."

"Umm..." Bentley laughed nervously. "G-g'mornin' Corny!"

… **Is it just me who feels as if Bentley just cheated on Priscilla? Even if this takes place 10 years before her?**

**Oh, and I was chatting with Niko while writing the TOD part, and I think we might have had a bit too much fun with that xD**


	12. Busted!

**Told y'all next chapter would be up in a jiffy :P**

***** Chapter Twelve : Busted! *****

"This is all YER fault!" Cornelia exclaimed as she walked down the rickety stairs, Bentley was right behind her. Needless to say, she wasn't all too happy over the situation she woke up to. Both of them tangled up in each others arms on the hayloft, completely nude, and on to add insult to injury; she was hungover something awful!

"MY fault?! How is this MY fault?!" He retaliated, even if her accusation didn't come as a surprise. "It wasn't me who drank myself senseless b'cause I was bein' angsty over my arranged weddin'!"

"But YOU allowed this to happen! You should've stopped me!"

"How?! If I would've tried to stop you, you would've started screamin' and wake everyone up!"

"Are you really that stupid or am I just lucky!? Of course I wouldn't do that! Then I'd just get into trouble as well!" She stopped and turned to face him. "Where's my pants?!"

He handed her the reddish brown pants and focused to not look down at the rest of her. At least he was wearing his pants, she had nothing but her underwear on. "Look, Chuck and Finn will be here any minute, we HAVE to stop arguin' and get outta here!"

"We ain't arguin'!" She hissed, turned her back to him and stuck her foot through one of the pants legs. "And stop lookin' at my ass, ya god damn pervert!"

"Hey! I ain't lookin' at'cha!" He hurried to turn around. "And I ain't the pervert here!"

"Oh, are you sayin' it's ME who's the pervert?!"

"I never said that!"

"But you were thinkin' it, weren'tcha?! Or were you busy reviewin' yer new fappin' material?! Pervert!" When he didn't answer, she snarled and turned around, only to discover why he was so silent.

In the doorway to the stable stood two other slaves, Chuck and Finn. Their eyes were wide in shock as they stared at the two half-naked, arguing teens, nobody said a word. Awkward silence.

"Of-fuckin'-course!" Cornelia exclaimed and jumped in behind Bentley, he took it as a cue and held out his arms as if that would help to cover her up more. "Why, Universe?! WHY do you hate me so much?!" She growled up at the roof.

"Umm, hi there, Finn! A-and Chuck!" Bentley finally manages to say and when Cornelia poked at his side, he handed her light green shirt as well. "W-what're y'all doin' here?"

"You were missin'" Chuck was the only one of those two who was in condition to speak. Finn was still traumatized of what he just saw. "Ama got worried so we decided to go look for ya b'fore we start workin'"

"T-that's nice! Well, as you can see, I'm fine! Soo, why don't you two just head back to the cabin and I'll be right there!" Bentley said with a sheepish smile while trying to ignore the redhead behind him, cussing up a storm meanwhile getting dressed. None of the other slaves moved from the spot and Bentleys smile faded. "Look, I can explain ev'rythin'...!"

"I hope so!" Chuck growled. He had gotten past the shocked state, and now looked more furious. "I hope ya have a damn good explanation!" Bentley looked down at the ground as Chuck dragged the shocked Finn away back to Amas cabin. To deliver the good news about Bentley being found unharmed, and the bad that he might have sealed everyones fate...

But before they left, Cornelia stepped out from behind Bentley and hollered at them. They both turned their heads to her, but quickly looked away when they saw that only the first buttons on her shirt was done. "And none of you fleabags better tell ANYONE of what you've seen! Capische?!" She hissed, and the hyena and the wild dog first exchanged glances before nodding. "Good!"

The duo dashed off, leaving Bentley and Cornelia alone. He was still staring down at the ground. "I'm sorry, Corny..."

"Look, let's just never talk 'bout this again, capische?" She said and buttoned the rest of her shirt and tied her messy hair up in a sloppy ponytail. She didn't see him do it, but she still knew he was nodding. "Well, later!" She said and clenched her aching head as she ran as quietly she could to the bushes to get unnoticed to the loose boards.

"See ya..." Bentley put on his shirt and got out as well. The walk to Amas cabin felt longer than usual, probably because he knew that they were waiting for him there. Waiting to attack him with questions. When he finally stood in front of Amas door, he hesitated. He looked up at the birdskull above the door and saw that some of the colorful painted patterns had faded. A good luck charm. But now it was grinning down at him, like some sadistic spirit just waiting to hear him get scolded by his family. He took a deep sigh before opening the door and step inside the kitchen. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to him. Dead silent.

"G'mornin' ev'ryone!" He said with a nervous chuckle, but didn't get anything in return.

Chuck was glaring at him with a displeased from, Finn still looked shocked, Toby looked like he was about to start hyperventilating, Ellie tilted her head and looked at him with concern and Amas face was expressionless.

He silently took a bowl of gruel and sat down at his usual chair, but he couldn't eat. Everyone was staring at him. "I-Is somethin' wrong?" He asked eventually and finally got a response; Toby bursted out in a hysterical laughter.

"'Is somethin' wrong' he asks! 'Is somethin' wrong'!" Toby said between the laughing attacks, looking absolutely horrified. "First he nails masters daughter, and then he comes 'ere askin': 'is somethin' wrong'! IS SOMETHING WRONG?!"

"Toby!" Ellie exclaimed and gave the striped hyena she adored a stern look. "Calm down!"

"Calm down?! How can I be calm when Jungle-Jim over there just...!"

"Enough, Toby!" Chuck barked, causing Toby to slam his head on the table and start bawling.

"They're gonna kill us all!"

Chuck sighed and rolled his eyes. "Can somebody PLEASE remove Toby? He's gettin' a bit too hysterical for my likin'..." He said with a meaning look at Ellie, indicating that she probably was that 'somebody'.

She nodded and walked over to Toby, putting a soothing hand on his shoulder and nodded for him to follow her out. They waited until the two hyenas were outside until Chuck turned with his eyes narrowed at Bentley. The brown hyena gulped and seemed to shrink in size as he sat on the chair, just waiting for their judgment.

"Well?" Chuck said and raised an eyebrow. "You said you could explain. Now, explain; what were you and Miss Aventine doin' in the stables?"

"Naked..." Finn added with a low, distant voice.

Bentley gulped and averted his eyes to granny Ama. She didn't seem as furious as Chuck was, but she didn't look pleased either. He sighed and stared down at the grayish gruel.

"M-me and Corny... Errm, I mean Miss Aventine, are just friends... Last night was a mistake, she was anxious over her and young Mr Willows arranged marriage and somehow managed to get a hold of some brandy and emptied the entire bottle..." He looked up and saw that their faces hadn't changed. "Nothin' like that has ever happened b'fore, or will happen again! I swear!"

"You said you were friends?" Chuck asked skeptically. "But she's never been to this side of the fence, at least not alone, and we're not allowed to as much as look at her!"

"There's a couple of loose boards in the fence, behind all the bushes. She comes here by night, usually sometime b'fore midnight. We meet up on the loft, on that platform you used to store grains, r'member?" Bentley sighed and looked down at the gruel again. "I-I'm not supposed to be tellin' y'all 'bout this, I promised her never to tell anyone!"

"You're not s'posed to meet her at all!" Chuck growled. "What if anyone in the residence finds out?! Do you have any idea what Mr Aventine would do to you if he found out?!"

"But so far he hasn't found out!" Ama was the one to object, and Bentley looked at her in surprise. "How long have you two met?"

"T-ten years, granny..." He could tell they were all surprised by the long time. "I met her only a few months after I got here. She was the one who gave me the name Bentley, y'know. She said I looked like her teacher, Mr Bentler"

"That's why I found it so familiar..." Ama mumbled before turning to Bentley again. "So, what have you two been doing for ten years?"

Bentley whimpered. He knew this was going to happen. "She... She has been teachin' me..."

"Teachin' ya what?" Finn was starting to get out of the shocked state.

The younger hyena took a deep sigh. "To read, sir... I can read, write... Oh, and count! I'm actually pretty good at it!"A faint smile appeared in the corners of his mouth, but that vanished when Chuck got up from his chair and began pacing back and forth in front of the stove. "I know it's illegal, Chuck! We both know! But she really wanna b'come a teacher herself, so I...!"

"This is bad... This is far worse than I'd ever imagine!" The older wild dog ranted as he paced. "I knew somethin' was up! I knew it was somethin' with the kid!"

"Chuck, can we talk?" Ama said, and judging from the tone in her voice, it wasn't a question. The wild dog and the girdled lizard walk into one of the rooms just as Toby and Ellie returned inside.

Toby sat down on a chair while Ellie soothingly stroke one of his long, pointy ears. "So, what did we miss?" She asked and looked at Finn and Bentley.

"Not much..." Finn said with a shrug. "Just that Bentley and Miss Aventine has been secret friends for ten years and they meet up every night and she has taught him to read, count and write"

Tobys eyes widened. He threw a glance at Ellie before bolting out through the door again. Ellie sighed and followed him out. The ones still on the inside could hear his hysterical and frightened voice. Hopefully, none of the overseers could hear him repeat everything he just heard to himself. He sure was convinced they'd all get punished now! Shortly after they left, Chuck and Ama came out into the kitchen again and Bentley hurried to look down into his gruel again.

"Bentley..." Chuck said, he sounded stern so Bentley didn't dare to look up. "None of us is gonna to tell anyone anythin'. But we don't think you should meet her anymore, it could get you both into trouble! You're lucky it was me and Finn who turned up in the stables. Imagine if Lasher, or any of the other overseers found you two?"

Bentley gulped and let his shoulders slouch. "I-I know..."

"Can you promise us that you'll never meet up with her again?" Ama asked, and Bentley looked up from the gruel and at his caretaker for a few seconds, but then he turned his attention down at the gruel again.

"I'm sorry... But I can't..." He replied, causing the rest to draw a simultaneous, annoyed sigh. "I've already promised her that I'd meet every night. I'm not gonna break a promise to a friend!" He shoved the bowl of gruel away from him and stood up. "I ain't hungry, see y'all later..." He said and walked out. He knew he was going to regret not eating any breakfast later, but right now he just couldn't get himself to eat a single bite. He knew it was just a matter of time before someone else found out about him and Corny. Secrets like this one is hard to keep forever, it was a miracle it had been ten years already!

But he had never expected the secret to be discovered already the same day!

...

He was out plowing on the fields right outside the house with a couple of others when the Willows arrived. They came from East, so when he heard the sound of trotting roadrunners and large, wagon wheels, he looked up and at the road. Cornelia and her family, including the uncle, was standing outside their gate when the silver blue coach-wagon stopped by the entrance to the slaves home quarters, to allow Chuck and Finn to take care of the coach and the two silver gray roadrunners pulling it. One of the roadrunners seemed jumpy and worried, and it spread to the other one.

Four mountain lions were exiting the coach; Mr and Mrs Willow, along with their two children. When Phillip, dark blonde and looked to be just a few years older than Cornelia, came out from the wagon, Bentley could swear he heard Cornelia groan in pain.

The adult Aventines happily welcomed the Willows and walked over to them to greet them properly, worrying the already skittish roadrunner even more. Cornelia stayed by the gate. She was wearing a deep red lacy dress and a matching bonnet on her head, and when she locked eyecontact with Bentley for a few beats, her face turned into a similar color and she pulled the bonnet down over her face. He couldn't help but to chuckle.

But an angry holler from Lasher and the crackling of his whip got Bentley to turn back to the plow he was controlling. The big, scruffy roadrunner that pulled the plow had almost fallen asleep since the one in charge had been busy looking at the funny rich people, but it also snapped back into reality when Lasher cracked his whip right beside it.

"What do ya think you're doin', hyena?" The heavy wolverine growled. Since the little prank Bentley pulled on him seven years ago, he was still annoyed by practically everything Bentley did.

"Oh not much, just workin' and stuff... You, wolverine?" Bentley replied with a cheeky smile and leaned over the plow.

"Less glarin', more plowin', git to it!" The overseer cracked his whip once more.

Bentley snorted. "That was the worst slogan I've heard in my life!"

"It ain't no slogan, GIT TO IT!" Lasher repeated and looked like he was about to explode. But then they heard someone yelp from the road, and both Bentley and Lasher turned to see what the fuss was about.

Phillip had walked over to Cornelia and probably said something, since she was now walking towards his father with determined strides and cursing down at the ground. But meanwhile, the skittish roadrunner was completely ballistic now and was tossing and turning to get away from the slaves trying to hold him and the other one down. He eventually dragged the other into the hysteria as well, and Bentley instantly realized that Chuck, Finn and the Willows driver wasn't going to be enough to hold the hysterical birds still. And Cornelia was walking right in their way, unaware of the birds.

"CORNY! WATCH OUT!" Bentley screamed and bolted towards the road just as the two birds yanked themselves free from the hands holding them and stampeded along the road.

Cornelia looked up when she heard Bentleys shout, but the sight of the roadrunners coming straight for her with the coach still behind them, made her paralyzed in fear and stand like frozen solid on the spot. She could hear her mother scream when she saw her daughter was in the way, but she couldn't move!

Bentley ran as fast as he could and leaped over the fence. Right before the stampeding coach hit Cornelia, he lunged at her, threw his arms around her and pushed her out of the way. They both rolled away to safety by the verge, and he curled up over her as a protecting shield as the roadrunners bolted past them. The entire ground shook as if an earthquake rocked the ground, and dust was kicked up by the birds big, trampling feet and the massive coach wheels. Bentley and Cornelia coughed as the dust reached them, and not until the thunder of the stampeding roadrunners was fading away did Bentley dare to look up at the road. The dust was slowly settling when Cornelia suddenly threw her arms around Bentleys neck and pressed herself close to him in a tight hug. She was shaking in the aftermath of the shock and tried to hold back the sobs as she clung to him like a barnacle.

He was confused for a while, as this was the first time in ten years he had seen her really scared, but then he hugged her back. He sat up on his knees with her leaning against him and calmly smoothed out her red hair, since her bonnet had fallen off and revealed that her hair had been washed and brushed. She was probably supposed to look like her finest now when her supposed fiance was here, but now she looked anything but charming, since the dust had clung to her and her dress was ripped and dirty. But she was alive and unharmed, but scared.

"It's alright, Corny..." He said soothingly and carefully brushed away a strand of hair that had fallen over her face. "You're okay, I got'cha!" He chuckled when she clenched her eyes shut and pressed her head against his chest." Ya didn't make a mess in yer petticoat just now, did'cha?" He teased and earned a low growl from her.

"S-shut up!" She said and tried to stop sobbing. She felt embarrassed for trembling like a leaf in public like this, and her cheeks slowly began to turn red, but she still didn't want to move from this spot. "I... I guess I owe ya one now, huh?" She managed to say with a faint smile.

"Nah, ya don't owe me shit, Corny" Bentley mumbled in response and hugged her tightly. "Just doin' my duty, that's all..."

His ears twitched by the unmistakeable sound of a revolvers hammer getting clicked back, and when he looked up, he found himself face to face with the dark barrel of a gun. He felt his heart skip a beat in fright and looked past the revolver at the man holding it; Lasher. And right next to the overseer stood Mr Aventine, not looking the least bit pleased.

"Git yer filthy paws off my daughter" The plantation owner growled with his fangs bared.

Bentley gulped and obeyed. He slowly let go of Cornelia, and was roughly dragged up on his feet by Lasher. He threw Bentley to the nearest fence and aimed his gun at the hyena. "Just say when, Mr Aventine!" The wolverine growled and his mouth curled up into a sadistic grin. Bentleys eyes nervously flickered to the sides and he slowly raised both of his hands.

The women rushed up to help Cornelia up on her feet, along with the Willows youngest child; their daughter Fifi. "Oh no! Cornelia, look at your dress!" Mrs Aventine gasped and with tears in her eyes, she began to try and brush of the worst dust. "Y-your beautiful dress!"

"Yeah, yeah... Good riddance!" Cornelia mumbled, but it was her turn to gasp when she saw the overseer pointing his gun at Bentley, just waiting for the order from Mr Aventine. "Dad! No!" She freed herself from her mother and Mrs Willow and stumbled over to her father. "Really, dad? You're gonna let the Mr Hogwash over there shoot the man who saved my life?!"

Gabriel Aventine raised a skeptical eyebrow at Bentley, who grinned sheepishly and waved.

"Saved her?! Pfft! I've told ya, sir! These hyenas have been plannin' somethin' for days now!" Lasher growled and tilted his head at his boss. "I heard that Finn plottin' with the others, they've been thinkin' of escapin' for a while, an' I bet this was just a try to get away! Sir, THEY were the ones who sent the 'runners runnin', and they were probably gon' take yer daughter hostage!"

"What?! Dude, you're fuckin' outta here!" Cornelia spat at the overseer and took a step at him, her arms stretched out. "That's gotta be the most paranoid bullcrap ya ever came with, and you've talked a LOT of shit in yer days!"

"Excuse me, Miss, but you don't know these people as well as I do! They'll take any chance they git to...!"

"Well if they wanna get outta here so badly, then maybe you should treat 'em better!" Cornelia raised her voice, now furious at the overseer. "They're what makes this place work, and y'all treat them like rubbish! Like they're nothin' but...!"

"That's enough, Cornelia!" Gabriel said, intervening between his daughter and overseer before a full blown fight broke out, knowing how hotheaded his daughter was. "He won't die... This time..." He put an arm around Cornelias shoulders and narrowed his eyes at Bentley. "You know what I do with anyone who lays a hand on my daughter?"

"Ugh!" Cornelia crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Y-yeah, sir!" Bentley nodded. Looking too long at Cornelia Aventine was forbidden, talking to her; taboo, and touching her; out of the question. Maybe Mr Aventine was a bit overly protective of his daughter?

"Well, the same goes for you! But..." The adult mountain lion cocked his head to the side. "But you did save her, and I believe in 'a life for a life'. Therefore, I'll let you go with just a warnin'. But the next time..."

Bentley lowered his hands and nodded nervously. Lasher growled in disappointment and lowered his gun. He grabbed Bentley by the scruff of his neck and was about to drag him back to the field when Matt emerged from the group.

"Hey! Hold up there a minute!" The gray haired mountain lion said and nodded at his brother. "A word, Gabe?"

Gabriel frowned, but left to hear what his brother had to say. Cornelia crossed her arms and smiled a victorious grin at Lasher, until her mother came up to her and tried her best to straighten out her dress and fix her hair as best as she could.

"Mom! No, stop!" She sighed and tried to wave her mother off, but Grace was persistent.

"We have to go back inside..." Grace mumbled and dusted off the deep red, dirty fabric on her daughters long, puffy skirt. "We have to put on somethin' else, this is completely ruined!"

"No! I'm fine, mom!" Cornelia threw a glance behind her, at Phillip. The other mountain lion returned her glare with a raised eyebrow. "It ain't important right now!"

Grace ignored her sister and turned to the Willows. "I'm incredibly sorry this happened today!"

"Oh it's our fault!" Mrs Willow scoffed and sadly shook her head. "It was our critters who ran away." She turned her head and the curly dark blonde bangs swayed. Chuck and Finn were coming back with the two roadrunners and the coach. Luckily, they were all unharmed. "But I wonder why they did that? They seemed so calm at home!"

"One of them had a thorn in his leg, ma'am..." Finn said, overhearing the other mountain lion wife. "He was just in so much pain an' just tried to get away from it, I guess"

Suddenly Cornelia saw her father march back with Matt right behind. He looked beyond furious. "You there!" He barked, and made Bentley jump in surprise.

"M-me, sir?" Bentley tilted his head. "Or did you mean my buddy here?" He nodded at Lasher, who still held his mane in his long, black claws. Lasher growled in response.

"You..." Gabriel growled and scowled at his hyena. "You knew my daughter, didn'tcha?"

"What?!" At least five other people burst out simultaneously. Cornelia and Bentley just flinched.

"Uh, well, of course! W-we all know who yer daughter is! O-or else we wouldn't know who to stay away from, right?" Bentley tried to explain, but the nervous grin didn't exactly convince.

"Matt told me he heard you call her somethin'..." Gabriel growled and took a few steps closer to Bentley.

"Corny, wasn't it?" Matt said suspiciously.

Bentley blinked in confusion. "... Did I call her somethin' corny, ya said?"

"No! Ya called her Corny!"

"But... I don't think she seem especially corny?"

"Enough!" Gabriel barked loudly. Something was going on here, he could tell. He knew that Cornelia wouldn't let anyone touch her like that. Hell, she had never even let her own family hug her before! He hadn't thought of it that much back then, but Matt had noticed and reacted. "How come you two seemed like old friends back there, then?"

"I was scared, dad!" Cornelia hurried to answer and placed herself between her father and Bentley. "Look, that's just paranoid talk! Matt NEVER knows what he's talkin' 'bout, so let's just drop it? I mean, Bentley saved me and that's all...!"

"Bentley, huh?" Gabriel averted his eyes down at his daughter, who instantly cursed silently to herself.

"W-well, that's what ya called him? R-right?" She chuckled nervously and shrugged, but her fathers suspicious face didn't budge.

"We never called him anything..." Grace said instead of her husband, and both Cornelia and Bentley gulped in fear and exchanged nervous glances. Finn and Chuck sighed and they too exchanged glances between each other. The silence that arose quickly turned awkward.

Neither Bentley och Cornelia said anything, but they could tell what the other was thinking; _We're busted, right?_

**And there you have it :P! Why yes, they are royally screwed and I do like cliffys :3**

**However next chapter shouldn't take too long ;)**


	13. The prize for friendship

**I know, I was a bit slow with this update, but this chappie was extremely hard for me to write o_o! I bet you'll soon see why...**

**It's a pretty long chappie as well!**

***** Chapter Thirteen : The Prize For Friendship *****

It was evening and the sun was setting. Igniting the Mississippi sky in different shades of orange, pink and purple. But everyone ignored the beautiful sunset, at least everyone in the residence. Because the mood in the residence had been solemn down all day, especially since the incident earlier this day.

One of the slaves had saved Cornelia, probably even saved her life! But then the Aventines had found out that their daughter and the slave knew each other personally, and probably spent a lot of time together. But neither of them would tell anything, and they had to drop the subject for the moment, as they actually had guests to tend to as well. But it was always present, like an elephant in the room.

That evening, Gabriel Aventine was sitting in his study, deep in his thoughts. He had just grounded his daughter, and she hadn't been too happy about it, but still she took it relatively good. Which only concerned him even more, as his daughter would usually burst out into a raging fit everytime he did something like that. As far as he knew, she was still sitting in her room, but he couldn't hear any curses or something crash against the wall.

When he asked the other slaves if they knew anything about her daughter and that farmhand, Bentley as he apparently was called, they had all said they didn't know anything. They seemed to be speaking the truth as well, except for one; Cornelias nanny Lucy. Matt had thought that the cheetah had acted a bit oddly when they questioned her, so he was told to keep an extra eye on her.

The Willows were staying the night, but at the moment it was uncertain how things were looking for the future marriage; the Willows said they didn't want their son to have anything to do with a girl who has been with a slave. And now, Gabriel was praying that the hyena hadn't ruined his daughter for good! Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked on the door to the study.

"It's open!" He said and leaned forward on the desk in front of him when Chuck poked his head in. "Chuck?" He asked and raised an eyebrow at the wild dog. "What're ya doin' here?"

"Sorry if I'm disturbin', sir... But..." Chuck said lowly and looked down at the ground as he entered the study.

"But what?"

"But there's somethin' ya must know, sir..." He looked up at his master and began fumbling with a loose end of his tattered shirt. "It's 'bout yer daughter, and Ben-... Errm, I mean the slave!"

Gabriel gritted his teeth. "Tell me ev'rythin' ya know!"

…

It was close to midnight, and Cornelia hadn't shown up yet. Bentley was about to give up and climb back down when he heard someone enter the stable and rush up the stairs to the loft. It didn't take long until Cornelias head poked up above the ladder. She was breathing hard and her hair was ruffled, as if she just ran all the way here.

"I thought ya weren't comin'!" He said with a happy and relieved tone in his voice. She didn't answer as she heaved herself up on the platform, walked over to the wall and slumped down right below the window. Nobody said anything for a while."Soo, got any homework for me or somethin'?" Bentley said eventually to break the silence, but Cornelia just shook her head and kept being silent. "Oh, wait a sec! Ya forgot somethin' last time ya were here!"

She curiously tilted her head towards him when he began to search for the floorboard he had hid her notebook under. He found the board and pried it open so he could get the notebook before handing it back to her. She silently took it and nodded.

"Thanks..." She mumbled.

Bentley frowned worriedly and tilted his head slightly to the side. Cornelia was never this quiet. "Corny?" He asked carefully, and she looked back up at him. "You're bein' real' quiet, what's wrong?"

"A lot..." She said with a sigh and looked back down. "But I think... We..." Her voice failed her so she paused, took a deep breath and said: "We can't see each other like this again..."

Bentley flinched. "Why not?"

"Why do you think, dummy?" She snapped back and bit her lip. "Dad WILL find out sooner or later! He's been suspicious as hell ever since noon, interrogatin' the staff and ev'rythin'!"

"Oh..."

"Yeah..." She looked down at the notebook in her hands. "So I guess this is the last time we'll see each other like this... It's a pity..."

"Yeah..." He averted his eyes and scratched the back of his neck. Suddenly she handed the notebook back to him with a stiff arm, still looking straight ahead. "Uh, Corny?"

"Here, you can keep it!" She said and waited until he took it.

"Y-yer notebook? Why? What should I...?"

"Hell I dunno, I just don't want it anymore, that's all! Do whatever ya want with it; keep it, burn it, use it as toilet paper, I don't care..." She slowly stood up. "Even if dad won't find out, it's just a matter of time 'til I have to marry Phil, and become 'Mrs Willow'..." She paused, grimaced and stuck her tongue out in disgust. "Life ain't fair for any of us, huh?" She was quiet for a while, solemnly staring down at the ground.

"Corny?" He said carefully and stood up. Cornelia shot him a quick glance before bolting to the ladder.

"'Bye, Bentley!" She hollered as she slid down the ladder. "I-it's been fun!"

"C-Corny?! Wait!" He exclaimed and made his way to the ladder, but just as he peeked down he saw that she was already running down the stairs on her way out of the stable. He stood there, just looking at the direction in which she had run off to with a sad frown. "Y-yeah..." He said lowly after a while and glanced quickly at the notebook in his hand. "B'bye, Corny..."

…

Cornelia bit down hard on her lip as she crawled out of the bushes on the other side of the wall. She knew saying goodbye to Bentley would be hard, but just that half-assed 'bye' she threw at him before threatening to break down had been a lot harder than she thought. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and looked down at it. _Tears... Dammit... _

She proceeded to sneak around the main door and over to the vines that climbed on the wall. She, as so many times before in her life, climbed up on the vines and over to her window, but when she got there she saw something that definitely ruined her night even more; boards. The window to her room was nailed shut with thick boards! Her heart skipped a beat and she nearly fell down.

"W-what?! When...?" She thought out loud to herself and tried to pry the boards away with her hands, but nearly lost her footing in the process. The board wouldn't budge. "Shit..." She hissed and glanced down at the main entrance. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!"

They knew! They knew that she was going to sneak out, and must have boarded her window shut while she was away! She bit her lip to stop herself from screaming out loud in frustration and hurried to climb her way back down to the ground. She tried opening the windows on the bottom floor as well, but they were all locked as well as the back door. There was only one way in; the front door.

She knew they must have planned this, and they were all probably waiting for her in the great entrance hall. Therefore she hesitated for a long while before finally gathering up the courage to walk in through the big door. To her surprise, the hall was empty. Dark and empty. She locked her eyes on her target; the big staircase in the middle that led to the second floor, and prepared to make a run for it. She had just closed the door as silently as she could when she heard footsteps behind her.

She sighed and gritted her teeth. "I fuckin' knew it..."

"I'm very disappointed in ya, Cornelia..." Her father said as he walked out from one of the rooms, backed up by Mr Willows, Bentler, Matt, Grace, Lasher and Lucy.

Cornelia took a deep breath and began to march toward the staircase with her chin in the air. "Dad, some moron nailed boards in front of my window, fix it!" Suddenly Matt stopped her by lashing out his arm in front of her, closing off her path. She came to an abrupt halt and growled at her uncle. "Really, Matt?"

"I was the 'moron' who boarded up yer window, Cornelia!" Matt growled in return.

"Oh, then I must apologize!" The younger female said sarcastically and threw her arms out. "B'cause callin' YOU a moron would be an insult to morons worldwide!"

"Enough now, Cornelia!" Gabriel barked loudly and made both his daughter and brother to turn their heads to him. "Just tell me one thing, why?" He growled and walked up to his daughter, who actually happened to be slightly taller than himself.

"B-b'cause I like takin' long walks in the night, duh!" She snapped back and placed her hands on her hips. "Now tell yer mongoloid brother to let me pass! I'm tanked and wouldn't mind gettin' some shuteye!"

"So, you've been out on a walk, huh?" Matt said lowly and picked out a straw that had gotten stuck in her hair. "Been out walkin' in the stable, perhaps?!"

Cornelia swatted his hand so he dropped the straw. "Y-you're crazy!" She burst out. "I ain't got time to argue with a crazy, drunk bastards like you!"

"Speakin' of drunk..." Matt continued and grabbed her wrist, stopping her from bolting to the stairs.

"Hey! Let go of my hand or I'll break it off, capische?!" She snarled and tried to yank her hand back from her uncle, but it was as if her wrist was stuck in a vice. "I mean it!"

"How come I find THIS on the stables loft?" He let go of her wrist and Mr Willow threw an empty bottle to her, which she caught with ease. She looked down at it and felt the color drain from her face; it was the bottle she had stolen from his cabinet the night before. "And how come it's empty?"

"I dunno... M-maybe you just partied a bit too hard with the slavegirls again, Matt?"

"We know, Cornelia..." Her father growled, and her heart began beating faster.

Sweat started to pearl on her forehead as she nervously turned to her father. "K-know what?"

"We know all 'bout you and that secret lover of yers." Matt opened his mouth again, and this time Cornelia was confused for real.

"What? S-secret lover...? Wait, what?!" She raised her eyebrow. _Are they talkin' 'bout me and Bentley? Wait, they think...? Oh god no..._

"No use in playing dumb, Miss Cornelia. Because we know you aren't" Mr Bentler, who usually was quiet in moments like these, said with a snort.

"Are you completely sure 'bout that?"

"Chuck told me ev'rythin' earlier, apparently 'Bentley' has told him all 'bout you two; how you two for ten years have been sneakin' out and met in secret every night on the stables loft..." Gabriel said and Grace flattened her ears to her neck and turned away. She didn't want to hear what her daughter had been doing without anyones knowing.

"Actually, for the first three years it was in the bushes near the wall, but yeah, we're pretty awesome at bein' stealthy aren't we?" Cornelia said and cockily folded her arms across her chest.

Her dad raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised over her sudden change of tone. "So, ya ain't denyin' it anymore?"

"What's the point?" She shook her head. "I ain't ashamed of him! In fact, he's my BEST FRIEND! NOT lover!" She added with a low growl. "Nothin' of what any of you have told me 'bout the farmhands has been true! And Bentley has proven to me that they're better people than what y'all are!"

"Here we go again..." Matt mumbled and slapped his palm to his forehead.

"Cornelia, do you realize what danger you could have put yourself in?" Bentler burst out with a concerned frown. "We are talking about a very p-...!"

"DON'T you DARE to call him primitive, Professor Furball!" Cornelia snapped at her teacher, and her tail whipped angrily. But then she calmed down and took another deep sigh as an awkward silence arose in the residence. "Cards on the table, huh?" She thought out loud to herself before looking up at all the adults surrounding her. Lucy was the only one who didn't look upset or worried. She looked calm, and almost a bit proud. "Dad, I apologize. I know, I know, I didn't think that word existed in my vocabulary either! But still; I'm sorry."

A faint smile appeared in the corner of her dads mouth. He probably thought that his daughter finally got some sense into her.

"I'm sorry I've probably broken every rule in the house. I'm sorry I've put myself in danger by befriending someone like Bentley. I'm sorry for expressing myself and I'm sorry for not bein' the daughter y'all wished for, but most of all I'm sorry that you are such a simple-minded, intolerant, arrogant, judgmental and paranoid caveman, dad"

And there he lost the smile just as quickly as it appeared.

"Really, dad? All my life you've been tryin' to tell me that I have to stay away from them, but why? B'cause they're dangerous?! B'cause they're primitive?!" She slowly shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You don't know that!"

Matt snarled. "Yes we do!"

"How come?"

"B'cause we... We... Well, first of all, if they're not the dumb animals we know they are; how come they're not just wiping us out, huh? We've had this discussion b'fore, ain't we?" Matt said and got an agreeing choir on nods from the others. "If they wanted to be free, all they have to do is to burn the entire plantation down and cut our throats! They can do it! They've got us outnumbered and outpowered, isn't that right, Lucy?"

The cheetah flinched when Matt called her name. "E-excuse me, sir?" She said, and when Matt repeated himself for her she gulped and nervously looked around. "Y-es... I-I guess... But w-we would never do th-that, sir!"

"And why not?" Matt kept pressing on, but Cornelia piped in before Lucy could answer.

"Why would they? There ain't nothin' they'd gain from it! Sure, they might kill us all and finally get away like free men and women, but what then? Hell, they'd be chased down like criminals and hung on the spot! If they're lucky! Not only would they be punished, but slaves on every damn plantation in the south would pay for their actions as well! In the end, EV'RYONE would suffer from it! And they're smart enough to know that ain't right. That it's even more wrong than what they're havin' to go through now! To keep me away from their side of the wall, you've been tellin' me that they're bad people, but here's the fun part; why are y'all lettin' the houseslaves near me then, huh? Y'all even been too lazy to raise me that you put me in the hands of a cheetah ever since b'fore I could walk! If they really were bad people they would've hurt me a looong time ago! But they haven't! B'cause they ain't the bad people here; YOU are! And Bentley has helped me to see that!" She let out a short, hopeless laugh. "Y'all should just see him; he's amazin'! It's like, 'are you even real, bro? He's the nicest guy I've ever met, and he's a lot smarter than all of you combined! He's... He's my best friend in the world..." She paused and found herself with a careful smile on her lips. "He has been like a brother to me ever since I met him... I... I don't know how he's been able to stand me all these years, but... But I'm happy he has..." She was quiet for a while before turning her head up to look at the adults. "And he cares! He cares more 'bout me than ANY of you assholes do! He listens to me! You NEVER listen to me!"

"O-of course we listen, honey!" Grace interrupted her daughter with a sad shake of her head. "And we DO care about you! Just look at all the things we've done for you!"

"Like what?! Decidin' my future b'hind my back?! Tryin' to control my life?! Have any of you ever stopped and thought; 'Hey, our daughter doesn't seem to like these silly little dresses with pretty pink bows, maybe we should let her wear whatever she feels comfortable in? And maybe she doesn't like to be dolled up and put on some god damn display on some stupid get-together? And maybe, just maybe, she doesn't wanna be married off as a child to some stiff bore son of an even stiffer plantation owner?' No! You haven't! B'cause to you, I ain't yer daughter! To you, I'm just some god damn exhibit! The only ones who has ever treated me like an individual has been Lucy and Bentley, two of the people y'all seem to loathe but still insist on forcin' to work themselves to death only so that you can bathe in money! They have been my family, more than YOU will ever be!"

Nobody said anything for a long time, while Cornelia was breathing heavily after her little raging rant. It was like they were waiting for her to calm down before daring to speak. She tried to slow her own breathing down and calm herself. Hopefully, they had actually listened to what she said, because she was sure as hell never gonna repeat herself!

The first one to open his mouth was Gabriel. "Lucy... Take Cornelia to her room and make sure she stays there..." But that only made everything worse.

"See?! SEE WHAT I'M TALKIN' 'BOUT?!" Cornelia exclaimed and bared her fangs in anger. "It's ALWAYS the same thing; 'Cornelia, go to yer room!', 'I don't want to hear more, to yer room now!', Lucy, lock her up in her room!' Why?! B'cause I'm right! And guess what? I'm not done!" She turned to Bentler, who was slightly alarmed by her threatening tone. "Mr Bentler, how does my grades look? Pretty good, right? How do you think that happened? You, if anyone, knows what a lazy, dense fucker I am, right? Well, I'll tell y'all why my grades suddenly are so great; Bentley. He has been doin' my homework and given me cheat-notes for every test for the last five-or-so years! He is the brightest guy I've ever met; he actually understand the gibberish you've been insistin' on teachin' me, Bentler! In fact, he's actually had to teach me some things that he learned on his own!"

"Wait, are you tellin' us that he knows math?" Matt exclaimed in disbelief, and Cornelia nodded.

"Duh! I've been teachin' him for seven years! He's bright as a bulb!" When she said that, the others disapproval was painfully obvious. It was only Gabriel who didn't seem to budge, since he already knew about that part from what Chuck told him.

"Lucy..." Gabriel said with a low voice. "Take her to her room, now!"

"Hey, I still ain't done yet!" Cornelia growled and yanked her arm away when Lucy tried to grab it. "Mr Willow, you can tell yer son that no matter how many times he asks me, I'll still answer him with a no and a kick to the groin! You Willows can go to hell for all I care! Mom, dad, do yourselves a favor; don't go lookin' for a new suitor! If I ever were to marry anyone, it would be an hyena. They're loyal, reliable, intelligent, fun and fuckin' awesome in bed, I'm just sayin'!" She ignored the adults mixed reactions and turned to Lucy, who actually seemed to be struggling to keep herself from laughing. "NOW I can go to my room, and I don't need you to take me there, Lu. I can go on my own!" Lucy nodded, but still followed her up the stairs.

The adults were still gathered in the hall as they heard the low slam of Cornelias door getting slammed shut by the temperamental teen. Mr Willows turned to Gabriel with a disgusted frown.

"Well, it seems fairly obvious that a marriage between our children is out of the question, now when Cornelia has made it clear what kind of girl she really is..." He said bitterly, and Mr Aventine closed his eyes to let out a restrained sigh. "Me and my family thank you for your hospitality, but we'll be departing tomorrow. Goodnight, Mr and Mrs Aventine!" And with that, he turned around and walked with long, determined strides back to the guestroom where he and his wife was sharing.

Gabriel stood still on the spot and gritted his teeth, trying to keep his blood pressure in place. Lasher, who up until now had been quietly standing by the side and listened to the young redheads rantings, slowly walked up to his boss.

"I'm sorry to hear what that bastard has done to yer daughter, Mr Aventine" The wolverine said and sadly shook his head. "I reckon he needs a good whippin', am I right, Mr Aventine?" He added with a smirk and meaningly tapped the whip that hung from his belt. Gabriel slowly nodded.

"A good whippin' doesn't even begin to cover for what he's done" He slowly and with shaking hands drew a cigar from his chest pocket and fetched a lighter from his suit. "Tomorrow..." He said and paused to light the cigar. "I want you to give the slaves the day off. I want them all to bear witness to what happens with someone who brainwashes an Aventine, and uses her..."

Lasher nodded in approval. "Just give me a number, sir!"

Gabriel pondered for a while and let out a puff of smoke before turning to his overseer. " One-hundred lashes. No more, no less."

…

Bentley woke up early in the morning by the sound of angry shouting from the kitchen, and something that sounded like a frying pan being thrown at the ground. He woke up immediately, threw on his clothes and ran down the stairs, only to be met by granny Ama having a raging fit at Chuck. Ellie and Finn were there too, and they didn't seem too happy either. When they noticed Bentley arriving in the kitchen however, they all turned quiet and looked at him. He felt uncomfortable by the way they were looking at him, and nervously fidgeted with his hands as he snuck up to the table and sat down.

"Umm, is ev'rythin' alright...?" He said eventually, and got an angry snarl from Ellie in response.

"No! Chuck tattled!" She said angrily and threw a furious look at the wild dog.

"I had to!" He defended himself and scowled at Bentley. "You would've caused a lot of trouble to us other if no one had told Mr Aventine! Yes, I told him 'bout you and Miss Cornelia, but only b'cause I had to!"

Bentley felt his stomach churn and his heart skip a beat. "Y-you told him...?"

"Ev'rythin'... But I HAD to! They would've started askin' 'round, and maybe start hurt some of us! They would've done anythin' to get their answer, an' I didn't wanna just stand 'round here when I could spare others misery!"

"Get out!" Ama growled and swung her wooden spoon and the much taller wild dog. "Get outta my house!" A few curses, shouts and eventually kicks later, Chuck finally left. And Ama stood still on the spot, breathing heavily from the strain she just put on herself. "I-I'm sorry, hun..." She said lowly to Bentley, and Ellie pulled out a chair for the old lizard to sit down on. "I-I didn't know that he would tell Mr Aventine..."

"T-they're gonna give us all the day off..." Ellie said with a low, concerned voice. "B-b'cause they want us all to watch yer punishment..."

"M-my punishment?" Bentley flinched, and the lump in his chest grew heavier when Finn nodded solemnly.

"We don't know what they've got in mind... But I've got a bad feelin' 'bout this..." The spotted hyena said and his round ears flattened to his neck. "A very bad feelin'!"

…

Finns bad feeling had been correct an hour later, when Bentley had been taken away to the 'Whipping Tree', the same tree outside Lashers house which Bentley had used to pull a prank on Lasher seven years ago, ironically.

There, he was tied with his arms over his head and exposed back facing the crowd and the overseers behind him. The slaves had been gathered and watched worriedly as the overseers were getting prepared. There were four of them, and they would have to take turns; everyone delivering 25 lashes each. Even Mr Aventine and uncle Matt was there for the occasion, but there was no signs of neither Cornelia, her mother nor teacher.

Bentley was staring into the bark of the tree, mentally preparing himself for what to come. He was more or less used to it by now; he had been whipped countless amount of times before and was actually starting to get a couple of visible scars on his back. His arms were spread apart and tied up by two small iron rings that had been screwed into the tree, and he tested to pull the ropes. Once again, the overseers had outdone themselves with the knots; he could hardly budge his wrists at all.

"Yer name is Bentley, ain't it?" He suddenly heard Mr Aventines voice behind him and turned his head as much as he could to get a view of the mountain lion.

"Wow! Ya actually remembered my name, sir!" He said cheerfully and smirked at his master. "I feel honored!"

"Ya know how to spell it too, I presume?" Mr Aventine ignored the hyenas witty comment.

Bentley nodded. "B-E-N-T-L-E-Y, sir! And I know how to spell moron too; L-A-S-H-E-R!"

Lasher was heard growling from somewhere behind them, but Gabriel ignored that as well. "Then I guess ya know why you're here too"

"Yeah, b'cause me and Corny were friends, right? Basically, you're gonna get those neanderthals b'hind us to whip me as a punishment for bein' friends with yer daughter!"

"You're gettin' what ya deserve b'cause ya ruined my daughter!" The mountain lion hissed, having enough of his slaves cheekiness. "If it weren't for you, my girl would've been married by now to a wealthy family! She would've had a bright and prosperous future, but now I don't know what to do with her! But..." He sighed and took a step back. "I will not forget that you saved her life yesterday, and for that I am grateful..."

"Woohoo!" Bentley said sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

"Therefore, you'll just get one-hundred lashes t'day, I think you know how many that is..."

Bentleys eyes widened. "W-wait, a hundred? JUST a hundred?!"

"You'll either survive it, or perish. That's better than if you hadn't saved her; if I hadn't owed ya for her life, I would kill ya at once! But now, I'm givin' ya the possibility to survive"

"Oh you are SUCH a compassionate being, sir!"

"DON'T make me change my mind, hyena!" And with that last hissing warning, Gabriel turned to the crowd as Wilkes stepped forth and did a few test-lashes with the whip in the air. "I have rules. Rules that I expect y'all to follow! B'cause if ya don't; there WILL be consequences!"

_Klatsch_!

Bentleys body jolted as the first lash left a trail burning like hellfire straight across his back, but he didn't scream. "AAAAHAHAHAAWILKES! Am I right?! You're ALWAYS so close to the shoulders, buddy!"

Gabriel continued his speech, ignoring the hyenas comment and encouraged Wilkes to do the same. "I don't want my daughter to have anythin' to do with any of you, therefore the three rules; Don't look, don't disturb and absolutely don't touch. Three very simple rules, and this joker has managed to break them all!"

_Klatsch_!

"OooWEEE! Geez, man! It was a COMPLIMENT!"

"The only thing stoppin' me from killin' him right here and now is that he saved my Cornelia from bein' run over by a stampedin' stagecoaced, and probably saved her very life!"

_Klatsch_!

"ARGH! Oh C'MON! Now you're just bein' an asshole, Wilkes!"

"Therefore I'm gonna be merciful t'day, and give him the choice b'tween life and death; 100 lashes to the back! Nothin' more, nothin' less!"

_Klatsch_!

"Okay! OKAY! Sorry 'bout the A-word! Geez!"

"Are ya outta yer god damn mind, Mr Aventine?!" Suddenly granny Amas voice broke through the crowds anxious murmur, and the little old lady elbowed her way through. "Ya ain't givin' him any choice; you're sendin' that poor boy to his grave! There ain't no way in hell he's gonna survive this!" The crowd murmured silently in agreement. They knew Ama was right; even if Bentley was pretty hardy, there was just no way someone as young as him was going to survive 100 full lashes!

"Proceed, Mr Wilkes!" Mr Aventine ordered and ignored her.

_Klatsch_!

Bentley gritted his teeth in pain, yet couldn't help but to force out a weak laugh. _C'mon, Bentley! Ya can do this! That was five lashes! Only 95 to go!_

…

But as the lashes kept hailing over him, he found it harder and harder to stand it. The pain was excruciating, and his back burned like fire that only seemed to intensify by every second! Somewhere around the 30th lash, he gave up and cried out in pain as another crackle of the whip split his back.

"S-stop..." He whimpered, but the lashing, now delivered by one of the newer overseers Skeet, didn't cease. "Stop! P-please! I-I'm sorry, okay?! AH! I'M SORRY! P-please! Stop!"

"Please, do as he says!" Ama pleaded and turned to Mr Aventine. "He has never gotten this many b'fore, he's learned his lesson! Please, tell them to stop!" But Gabriel didn't even as much as look at the older lizard. Instead, he let the overseers keep doing their work, and Lasher was excitedly waiting for his turn; he were to give Bentley the final 25. And if the hyena had survived until then, Lasher would make sure he wouldn't last till 100.

The lashes kept coming and coming, and the pain was getting worse. Soon Bentley couldn't feel anything else but the fire on his back. After what felt like forever, there was finally a break for a couple of minutes. Bentley chuckled weakly in relief and lifted his head as much as he could. It was over! He had made it! He had made it through all the lashes!

But suddenly another lash crackled and his back was set ablaze yet once again, making him cry out in pain and shock with a broken voice. His legs gave up underneath him and his entire body began to shake as he slowly realized that they had only switched overseers. He was at 50, meaning that he had only gotten half-way. He sobbed and kept repeating to himself:_ I'm only half-way! I'm only half-way there! Fifty more! HALF-WAY THERE!_

And he also realized that he wasn't going to make it. He was already getting weak. He was definitely going to die, and he was okay with that; he would do anything to get out of this right now! Anything!

Black spots was dancing in front of his eyes, the world was spinning and the only thing that kept him up was the ropes around his wrists. _Let it end..._ He thought to himself and clenched his teary eyes shut, his voice was too weak to be able to form any words. _Please, father... Let it end!_

Ellie winced and turned her head away, she hardly reacted when Finn put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. "S-someone's gonna stop them, Finn!" She whimpered as another lash made Bentley let out a weak cry of pain. Finn grinded his teeth. He agreed with his sister, but didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything!

…

Meanwhile in the residence, Cornelia had found out what they were doing, but was unable to do anything to save her friend; she had been locked up in her room all day. She had smashed her window and tried to pry away the boards from the inside, but to no avail. All it had gotten her was a deep cut in her right palm from a glass shard. She had instead turned to the door and banged with her hands on it until her hands began to bleed. She knew Lucy was outside, guarding the door.

She didn't know how long she had been banging on the door, or how many lashes Bentley had gotten yet, but she felt the time was running out and for every minute that passed when Lucy wouldn't open the door, she grew more and more frustrated and scared.

"I swear to god, Lucy! OPEN THE FUCKIN' DOOR! NOW!" She screamed and slammed with her palm on the door. Her voice was getting hoarse from all the screaming and shouting she had done, but she wouldn't let it stop her.

"I've told you, Miss Cornelia; I can't! One more slip from me and I'm history!" Lucy responded and kept sewing on the skirt she had in her hands, to keep herself occupied. "He's already lost his trust in me after findin' out that I after all knew 'bout you an' Bentley! I can't fail my master again!"

"But they're gonna KILL Bentley, Lucy!"

Lucy sighed a restrained sigh. "I know, Miss... I'm sorry..."

"You ain't even BEGUN to feel sorry, Lu! Not unless YA OPEN THIS DOOR PRONTO!"

The shouting and the door-banging went on for a few more minutes, and Lucy tried to ignore her young mistress as well as she could. But after a while, the threats and violent screaming ceased and Cornelias tone of voice changed dramatically.

"PLEASE, Lucy! J-just open! He's gonna die, and it would be all my fault!" Cornelias voice was trembling with genuine fear and she sounded close to sobbing.

Lucy put the skirt down. "C-Cornelia?"

"You know what he's like, Lu! You've met him! And you know he doesn't deserve this! He's such a nice guy, he ain't done ANYTHIN' wrong! I have! It's all my fault!" She sniveled the rustling sound of her slumping to the ground against the door was heard. "If I hadn't talked to him that first day we met... If I hadn't insisted on makin' him my friend... If I hadn't gotten my stupid, anxious-ridden ass drunk and slept with him, this wouldn't have happened!" She discontinued when her voice threatened to break and was quiet for a while. "Please, Lucy! I beg of you; open the door! L-let me save him! Please!" Lucy didn't answer. She just silently gritted her teeth and squeezed the key she had retrieved from the pocket in front of her skirt. "L-Lucy? Please, I... I love him!"

Without responding, Lucy quickly got up from the chair and turned around to the door. She unlocked the door, and as soon as Cornelia heard the key getting inserted into the lock, she got up from the floor and waited as the door was opened. As soon as she saw Lucy in the doorway, she lunged forward and threw her arms around the king cheetahs neck.

"Th-thank you!" She sobbed and let go before Lucy got any time to respond. She bolted down the stairs while Lucy followed her with her eyes, smiling proudly. Sure, she was going to get a lot of hell for this, but it was it worth!

Cornelia ran faster than she had ever done in her entire life. Through the hallway, out through the front door, along the driveway and out on the road. She figured running around the wall would be faster than squeezing through and crawling around in the bushes. She jumped over the fence into the slaves living quarters and stopped. Holding her breath as her ears perked and listened intently. She finally heard the faint sounds of a crackling whip hitting something soft and fleshy and dashed towards the sound. A large group of slaves a few feet away from a big tree was blocking her vision, but the whips crackling was loud as thunder now.

"B-Bentley?" She sobbed and ran into the crowd, elbowing and punching her way through. She got out into the clearing just as the 74th lash was crackled and left another red line on Bentleys already messy back. She was stuck like paralyzed for a few seconds, just staring at the horrible sight in front of her; Bentley was tied up to the tree, his back was nothing but a red striped, bloody mess and he wasn't moving. But when she saw the overseer getting ready to hand out the 75th lash, and for the overseer his last before Lasher took over, she screamed out a horrified 'NO!' and ran towards Bentley.

That was when Mr Aventine noticed his daughter, and his eyes widened as she stopped in front of Bentley, quickly turned around to face the overseer and held her arms out. The overseer couldn't stop the whip in time, so it hit her straight in the face. She screamed in pain, clamped her hands over her left eye and staggered to the side, but managed to keep herself standing.

"STOP! HOLD IT!" Gabriel shouted at the overseer, who now was terrified when he saw who it was he just hit.

Cornelia gritted her teeth and removed her hands from her eye, revealing a deep, bleeding gash straight across it, going all the way from her forehead to her cheekbone. When she also staggered over to Bentley and threw her arms around him as to protect him, the crowd drew a unified gasp and instantly turned their heads to their master, who couldn't believe what he saw with his own two eyes.

"Go on! Don't let me stop you!" Cornelia said with a thick voice and buried her face into the hyenas bloodstained mane. "I deserve this more than he do anyway!"

"Cornelia, get away from there at once!" Gabriel hissed angrily.

"Fuck off!" She sobbed and shook her head, tightening her grip around Bentleys seemingly lifeless body and burying her face even deeper into his tasseled mane. "I won't leave him!"

"Somebody get her away from him!" Her father growled at the overseers, and they were about to walk over to the two teens when one of the slaves suddenly placed himself in the way; Finn.

"It's enough now, Mr Aventine!" The spotted hyena said and balled his fists. "Killin' Bentley would be a huge mistake, and ya know it! He might not be perfect, but he's a good and hardy worker, and I know he has learned a lesson here t'day!"

"Please, let it be enough!" Ellie said and sided up with her brother. The two hyenas were soon joined by Ama, and then Church. Even Toby joined them, to Ellies great joy, as well as Chuck and the rest of the slaves. Eventually they were all standing between the teens, and the overseers. With a frustrated growl, Gabriel had to admit himself defeated.

"Fine..." He growled and folded his arms across his wide chest. "He's had enough; cut him loose!"

Cornelia was scared; she couldn't tell if Bentley was breathing or not! She bit her lip to stop herself from crying in front of the entire plantation as she tried to lift Bentleys head and place her hand in front of his nose. But when she couldn't feel any breath, she started whimpering and hug him even tighter. "Please don't be dead! Please, oh PLEASE! You're my friend! Y-you can't die on me now!"

The first signs of life she got from him was when he was cut down. When he hit the ground, a weak and pained groan was heard by everyone, and Cornelia almost cried in relief as she bent down and scooped his big head up in her arms. He was too weak to even keep his mouth closed, and drool mixed with blood ran out of the corners of his mouth and soiled down her clothes even more, but she didn't care.

"D-dont'cha dare to die on me now, y'hear!" She said lowly and moved his thick hair to the side to see the rest of his face. "If you die on me now, I'll fuckin' kill ya, capische? I-I'll bring ya back to life and kill ya!"

When Finn kneeled down by her and Bentley, she instantly reacted by hissing and holding his head tighter to her chest, but relaxed a bit when she saw it was just another slave. "Miss, I don't mean to intrude, but we have to get him home an' have a lookit those wounds, ok?" He said and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. He had already broken the first and second rule about the plantation owners daughter, so he didn't care he was breaking the third one as well.

Cornelia glanced down at his hand before nodding slowly and let go of Bentley. She got up on her feet and took a few steps back as Finn and Church helped to pick the young hyena up and carry him towards Granny Amas cottage. She wanted to follow them and help them nurse Bentley back to health, but she knew she would endanger the rest of them as well.

The crowd of slaves disbanded and left Cornelia with her father and the overseers. Lasher was beyond furious for missing out on his chance to get his revenge for all the years of humiliation the young hyena had caused him. And so was her father, but for another reason. He met his daughters gaze and growled lowly at her, she replied by baring her fangs in an angry hiss before slowly making her way back home. She couldn't help but to smile, however, when she pictured her mothers face when she saw that her daughter was covered in hyena blood!

Gabriel watched as his daughter slowly left the area and angrily began to grind his teeth. Matt sighed disapprovingly and shook his head from side to side. "No offense, brother, but somethin' has to be done 'bout yer daughter!" He said, and Gabriel responded by nodding seriously.

"Yeah... Do you know if Mrs Cohen is still in business?" He raised a questioning eyebrow at his younger brother.

Matt thought about it for a while, before nodding carefully. "I think so, how come?" The gray haired mountain lion smirked. "Plannin' on sendin' little Cornelia to her or somethin'?"

Gabriel nodded again. "Been thinkin' 'bout it for a while since that's where Grace was studyin' when she was Cornelias age, and then I reckon Mrs Cohen wouldn't mind this little challenge as well!"

The other mountain lion chuckled. "Yeah, I heard she loves a good challenge ev'ry now and then! I sure am curious to see how she handles little Cornelia!"

**Wow, turns out Corny CAN have an anxious breakdown in public too :P**

**Gosh do I feel awful for doing this to Bentley... And it was damn hard to write it too o_o! Oh well, I have to comfort myself with the thought that it is not ME personally that's doing the whipping, but one of my other (a bit less empathic) characters!... Which indirectly IS me/a part of my imagination... Damn it, I'm a horrible person ;_;...**

**Anyway, that's enough self-loathing for me :D! I'll be pretty busy next week (family, friends, my dads insane pool-project etc), so I bet next chapter will be pretty late as well :/... Meh, I'll see whenever I get the time for the next update, see y'all then ;D!**


	14. Just friends?

**Awesome, I managed to finish it this night, yay xD! Ahum, sorry to keep y'all waiting! But y'know, since SWG is soon over I've been focusing more on it ^^! Anyway, here's a very long (and pretty dang emotional feat. a VERY disappointed Corny) chapter :3!**

***** Chapter Fourteen : Just Friends? *****

For what seemed like an eternity, Bentley was drifting in and out of consciousness. He had one bizarre dream after the other, sometimes he couldn't even tell what was real and what was just his imagination! His back constantly burned in a relentless fire, and the pain would sometimes be intense enough to wake him up in the middle of the night, screaming and tossing like mad.

One day, after a week of incoherent slurring, feverish hallucinations and just all kinds of pain in general, his eyes slowly fluttered open with a weak groan. He lay face-down on his belly, in a room he, after a while, registered as his own on Amas attic and someone was sitting next to him. The person seemed to have been close to falling asleep so when Bentley moved, she jolted in surprise.

"Bentley?" She carefully asked and leaned closer. When he slowly lifted his head up from his pillow, she gasped and happily clapped her hands together. "He's awake! Hey! E'vryone! He's wakin' up!" She yelled and soon, scrapings of chairs getting pushed away from the table was heard from the kitchen below.

"E-Ellie?" He replied with a faint, hoarse mutter and tried to get up on his elbows, but a furious jolt of pain coursing through his back made him flop back down with a pained wince.

"Be careful! Ya shouldn't be up n' 'bout yet!" Ellie said firmly and carefully placed a hand on his forehead. "Yer fever's goin' away too! Great! How are ya feelin' so far, Bentley?"

He groaned and rubbed his forehead where she just touched him, with his palm. "Like I deserve... I guess... W-what's happened?"

Ellie was about to answer, but then the thundering steps of many feet rushing up the staircase interrupted her, and within seconds; Finn, Chuck, Ama and Toby was standing by her side and looked down at Bentley with relieved and rejoicing faces.

"Man! You're back!" Finn would've given him a brotherly punch on the back, but that didn't seem like the smartest move right now.

"Yeah! I actually...!" Toby discontinued and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "I, uh, I didn't think you'd make it actually..." The striped hyena mumbled and looked down at the ground. "You were lookin' real' bad there for a while..."

"Of course he'd make it! I know this guy, he ain't givin' up that easily!" Another voice and pair of feet from the staircase joined the others, and Bentley flinched when he heard it.

"I-is that...?" He tried to turn his head to peek at the staircase, but his back wouldn't let him. "C-Corny?" He said that as soon as the redhead poked her head up through the staircase.

"Duh, who else? Bloody Mary?"A wide grin spread on her face when she saw her friend finally woke up and was able to communicate with others! She walked up to him and joined the others with her arms folded across her chest. "Told y'all he'd be fine!"

"Wh-what? What're ya doin' here?" This time Bentley managed to crawl up on his elbows, even if it put a lot of strain on his back. He winced in pain before looking up at Cornelia and almost flinched at the wound that stretched from the left side of her forehead, down over the eye and ended right under her cheekbone. "And what happened to yer eye!?"

She blinked in confusion and gently tapped the wound with her fingertips. "This?" Bentley nodded, and she shrugged nonchalantly. "I dunno, scratched myself on the bushes or somethin'..." She answered, but he could see that the slaves were exchanging meaning looks, as if they wanted to say something but couldn't as long as she was there.

They continued to tell Bentley about everything that had happened, and when he heard that he had been out for a week, he nearly fell off the bed. No wonder he was so hungry! Cornelia had helped by bringing them medicine and bandages whenever she could, probably saving his life by doing so! Her parents knew where she was, and had more or less given up on her by now. She hadn't been sleeping in the residence for days now, the only times she had been there at all had been whenever she had to fetch something. And she was happy to announce that her and the Willows sons wedding had been called off. At least for the moment.

Bentley couldn't stay awake for more than a couple of minutes, so they hurried to feed him some cold soup and managed to convince him to take a spoonful of some weird, disgusting liquid Corny had brought from the residence. It said it was supposed to taste like orange, but it didn't. Bentley thought it tasted like death and nightmares. He fell asleep not long after the others left the attic, and was thrown back into the weird and bizarre dreams. One in which he saw an older version of himself kissing a shadowmaid.

Next day when he woke up he found Cornelia sitting on a chair by his bed. She looked to be close to falling asleep herself, but when she noticed that he woke up she snapped back to reality and let out a loud yawn. Bentley was about to say something to her, but the sharp, burning pain awoke in his back as soon as he moved a muscle. He fell back on his stomach with a painful wince.

"Hey, how are you holdin' up, buster?" She said and stretched her arms above her head.

"I've been better, to tell ya the truth..." He winced and managed to push himself back up on his elbows. "What're ya doin' here, Corny?"

She snorted and folded her arms. "What? Ya want me to leave or somethin'?"

"No!" Bentley hurried to respond. "I just meant; what're ya doin' HERE? On this side of the fence? Ain't yer parents worried 'bout you?! An' what if they decide to blame it on us?!"

"I dunno" She shrugged. "They were far too mad at me when I left, and I DID tell them that if they wanted me to come back they'd better come here themselves an' git me! B'cause I sure as hell ain't comin' back to 'em!" She muttered and lowered her head. "I fuckin' hate 'em... I couldn't care really care less if they're worried 'bout me or not! And if they let you guys suffer more for this I'll fuckin' murder them in their sleep!"

"But Corny, they're yer parents-...!"

"No they ain't!" Cornelia hissed and snapped her head to his direction. "I might be their offspring, but they ain't my parents! They've never been a part of my family!" She lowered her head and stared straight ahead again. "Not like you and Lucy has been..." She glanced over at his bandaged back and for a moment he thought he saw tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Bentley... I'm so very sorry!"

He blinked in confusion at her and tilted his head slightly to the side. "Eh?"

"This is all my fault... What they did to you was all b'cause of ME!" She sounded angry, but looked sad. Bentley had a vague feeling that he knew where this was going.

"Corny, it's okay! Please, don't freak out!" He said with a shaky voice in an attempt to calm his friend down before she got into an epic fit. "Y'know, I'd rather go through that again than to-...!"

"It's NOT okay! It's ev'rythin' BUT okay!" Cornelia angrily balled her fists and didn't notice that she was digging her nails into her palms. "M-my dad has always told me to stay away from the slaves... I never really understood why, and it made me curious. I wanted to know what it was 'bout y'all that scared my dad so much, so I used to spend my free time spyin' on y'all when you were workin' on the fields outside the house, but I could never get close enough! That is, 'til I found the loose board in the wall and could get over to this side. But I knew I'd get into so much trouble if anyone ever found out I've been here on my own, so I just kept stalkin' people through the bushes. But I just couldn't get close enough to find out more 'bout them 'til... Well, 'til I met you!" She paused when she managed to calm down and stared down at her feet. "I'm sorry, Bentley. I shouldn't even have started talkin' to ya that day! I... I just wanted a friend... Someone I could talk to, someone who'd listen! And you were so quiet and timid, I thought you'd be a real' pushover so I... I kinda chose you as my friend..."

"And it was the best thing that's ever happened to me!" He hurried to say, but unfortunately it didn't seem to make her happier. If anything, she pulled up her knees to her chin and lowered her head further.

"No! It wasn't, ya dumbass! It was a mistake!" She growled, angry at herself. "I was an idiot for thinkin' that I would be the one to get in' trouble if they found out! If I had known that THIS would happen...!" She glanced at his back again and went quiet for a while. With a sigh she stood up and began to slowly walk towards the stairs. "Never mind, you're up now... I better go and get that old voodoo-lady..." She muttered lowly.

"Wait!" Bentley said and lunged out his arm and grabbed her wrist, forcing her to stop. Although the sudden move made him stretch his back and he felt some of the scabs crack and the bandages covering his back got wet with blood. "W-wait...!" He said again and winced in pain. "Don't go j-just yet!"

"Don't strain yourself like that, ya moron!" She said and yanked her arm free. "Look, now I gotta go and get new bandages for you too!" She sighed again and rolled her eyes as she continued to walk towards the stairs. "Don't get yourself killed while I'm gone!" She hollered just as he saw her red hair vanish below the floor.

He fought the pain in his back as he tried to lay back down on the mattress. "Fine..." He muttered as a response to her comment and rested his head on his arms. He was tired and hungry, but the pain kept him from falling asleep and lowered his appetite. A few minutes after Cornelia left, Granny Ama came walking up the stairs with a bowl of gruel in her hands.

"Do I dare to ask what her shouting was about?" The elderly lizard asked and sat down on the chair that Cornelia used to sit on. Since Bentleys hands were shaking too much to hold the spoon and it put a lot of strain on his back whenever he moved, he had to be settled on being fed.

"Well... I think she's blamin' herself for, eh, this..." He sure was hungry, but he still had to struggle to swallow the gruel. "She's angry at her parents, and I think I can understand her for that... But she thinks this is all her fault too, and it's frustratin' b'cause I know there's no use in tryin' to convince her that this ain't her fault at all!" He paused when Ama began picking with the bandages.

"I see..." Ama nodded seriously. "Then it's nothin' new. We've also tried to tell her that none of us blames her, but she won't believe us" She stopped picking with the, now bled through, bandages and sat back down on the chair and continued to feed him the gruel. "Do you wanna know how she real' got that slash over her eye?" Bentley blinked in surprise before nodding slowly. She hesitated before continuing with a serious tone in her voice; "She got it when she saved you. She got in between you an' the whip an' the whip hit her straight across her face"

Bentley stared in disbelief at the old lady. "C-Corny...? Sh-she... She saved me...?" Ama nodded again. "W-why didn't she just say that then?! That's somethin' she should have been braggin' 'bout! Not lie 'bout it!"

The lizard shrugged. "I dunno why she didn't wanna tell you that, to tell the truth. And she asked us not to say anythin' to ya either..." She cocked a scaly eyebrow at him, and he instantly agreed on not telling the redhead who told him. "She hasn't left yer side for a week either" Ama continued after a while and tried to scrape up the last gruel on the bottom with the spoon, somehow Bentley had managed to scoff it all down. "She came here already the first night, beggin' us to let her help! At first we were scared to let her in, thinkin' of what her father might do if he found out where she was. But as you were strugglin' harder an' harder to survive the night, we decided that we needed all the help we could get" She paused and smiled carefully. "It was funny to see how a child we all knew to be spoiled an' selfish care for a simple slave like that. Y'know, it took days b'fore yer fever was under control, an' she never left yer side durin' all that time!"

"Well... She's my friend... A-and I would've done the same if things were different!"

"Are ya sure 'bout that, hun?" Ama said and when Bentley looked up at her in confusion, he was met with a sly smile. "Are ya sure you're just friends? B'cause it seemed on her that you two were more than that!"

He didn't know what to answer, so he just stared down at his pillow with mixed feelings. Did Granny mean that they loved each other? Like, LOVE loved each other?! "G-granny, Y-you've got it wrong! Sh-she's just a friend to me! My BEST friend of course, but that's all!"

"Of course" The elderly lizard chuckled and picked up the bowl as she stood up. Bentley almost groaned out loud; she didn't believe him! Ama returned downstairs to wait for Cornelia, while Bentley thought about what granny just told him.

What if she was right, and Cornelia saw him as something more than a friend? That thought scared him. She was a sore loser, a VERY sore loser, and if she found out that she was nothing more than a close friend, well, who knows how she would react?

Cornelia and Ama returned after a few minutes with Ellie and a bunch of ripped sheets. Cornelia hadn't found any bandages, so her great grandmothers sheets had to do! Oh how she had enjoyed the look on her mothers face when she started shredding the old sheets.

Ellie and Ama helped to change the bandages on his back, while Cornelia helped him to sit upright on the bed. He couldn't help but to glance over his own shoulder to get a look at his back. He didn't see much, but what he could see worried him; big chunks of his mane had fallen off and lots of deep, red gashes covered his entire back. He even had a few lashes on his shoulders and arms. He was worried how it would look when the wounds healed up, if the fur would grow back at all?

Cornelia put her hand on the opposite side of his face and made him look straight forward again. "Just don't look..." She mumbled and draped her arm around his neck to pull him closer and leaned her forehead against his head.

"Too late..." He answered with another mumble and looked down at the floorboards. "I swear I'll look like a turtle for the rest of my life..."

…

More days passed and turned into weeks, Mr Aventine had ordered Bentley to be back out on the fields as soon as he could walk again. But Cornelia told him not to worry, since she would chop off his legs if he returned out to the fields before his back was fully healed. To her surprise but not everyone elses, it DID worry him.

He was sitting on the edge of his bed, hungrily gulping down soup like there was no tomorrow. Cornelia had already finished her bowl and was sitting next to him with her knees pulled up to her chin and tail curled up in front of her feet. She actually liked the food the slaves got more than the dinners at home. And dining with Ama and 'her hyenas' were a lot more fun than having to sit by a big table and being forced to listen to uncle Matt and his adventures in foreign and feral lands. Although today, she had chosen to sit in the attic with Bentley and eat with him. He couldn't get down the stairs without ending up writhing in pain of the floor, but at least now he didn't have to be fed anymore.

"So, how's yer back?" She asked him, and he nodded before gulping down a mouthful of soup.

"It's gettin' better!" He said and loaded his mouth with more soup.

"Y'know, Lucy keep naggin' on me to not eat to fast or I'll get a stomachache!" She teased, commenting on his gluttonous eating.

He laughed out a short laugh. "Well, I guess y'all can't have guts of iron like me!" He said cockily and tilted his chin upwards as he petted his stomach.

"Dumbass..." She chuckled and scooted closer. She stuck her arm through his and leaned her head against his shoulder, making him tense up and stop with the spoon half-way to his mouth.

"Corny?"

"When will you finally stop callin' me Corny?" She hummed and started picking at the end of her long ponytail with her other hand.

"Probably never! But seriously now, Corny..." He glanced down at the gash over her eye, which now had healed into a scar. He paused, trying to find the right words. She noticed that he was slowly getting nervous and raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" She asked with an impatient hint in her voice.

"Well... I..." He cleared his throat. "I just... Well, wh-what are we?"

"... What?"

Bentley did a deep, restrained sigh on the inside. _Oh fuck it..._ "Corny, what are we to each other? I mean, what do I mean to you?" _Well, THIS isn't awkward at ALL! Great job, Bentley! Great job!_

"... What kind of dipshit are you?" She laughed dryly and leaned her head back on his arm. "Whaddya think?"

He let out a careful, awkward laugh as well. "Yeah, I-I know... I AM a dipshit, huh?" He turned back to his soup. "I mean, what else can we be than friends, huh?" But just as he said that, her eyes sprung wide and he felt her flinch. Slightly worried by her reaction he glanced down at her and noticed that she was staring straight at him.

"Y'know, we could be more than friends, buster..."

"Uh, y-ya mean like BEST friends?" He chuckled nervously and tried to scoot away.

She shook her head. "No..."

"U-ultra best friends?"

"No!" A hint of irritation was heard in her voice

"Eh, BEFFs?"

"No for fuck sake, ya moron!" She flattened her ears to her neck and shook her head violently from side to side. "That ain't what I meant!"

He gulped when she turned to face him entirely. "Th-then whaddya mean...?"

Quick as a flash, she had gotten up on her knees, lunged forward and pressed her lips against his. If his back wasn't busted, she would have pushed him back down on the bed and straddled his hips. Instead, she held his head in a firm grip between her hands while kissing him. But when she noticed that he wasn't kissing her back, she stopped and pulled back. Both were staring at each other with wide eyes.

"B-Bentley...?"

"I-I'm sorry, Corny..." He slowly shook his head. "N-no, I can't... I... I just can't! C-Corny...?" He stuttered when her sea-green eyes were getting filled up with tears. She was about to jump down from the bed and bolt away when he managed to grab her and throw his arms around her to hold her back. "No! Wait a second!"

"Lemme go!" She hissed and lashed out with her claws at his face, but missed.

"I will in a moment! Just wait and hear me out, 'kay?!" He pleaded and she stopped squirming in his arms. "I'm sorry, Corny! I-I'm really sorry! They told me ev'rythin' that happened; YOU took my 75th lash and stopped them! YOU saved my life! No ones has ever been more grateful to another person that what I am to you! I love you, Corny, b-but as a friend!" He heard a faint sob coming from her, so he hugged her even tighter and began to carefully rock back and forth. A heavy lump of guilt began to form in his chest. "I remember when you said I was a nobody, even if you didn't mean it back then you were right; I AM a nobody! No, I'm lower than that; I'm just yer fathers slave! I ain't even close to far from good 'nuff for ya!"

"Bullshit... Y-you just don't love me... At least not the way I l-love you..."

He clenched his eyes shut and rested his chin against the top of her head. "N-no... No I don't..." He said lowly, even if it was painful to say it. She bit her lip and buried her head in his throat, making him feel even more awful. "But that doesn't make ya any less important to me! You're my best friend, Corny! You mean a LOT to me!"

"Let me go now..." She muttered with a thick voice.

"Without you, I'd be even more of a loser than what I already am!"

"Fuckin' hell, lemme GO!" She repeated louder with a hiss, and he reluctantly let her go.

"I'm so sorry, Corny..." He said, close to tears himself. She already had tears rolling down her cheeks as she picked up the two wooden bowls. "I didn't mean to hurt you! I just-...!"

"I should've let my dad kill ya, asshole!" She hissed and with that she turned around and retreated down the stairs.

Bentley threw his legs over the edge of the bed and was about to follow her when the pain in his back finally caught up and he was forced to lie down on his stomach while his back was on fire once again. "I'm sorry, Corny... I'm so, so sorry...!" He whispered and covered his eyes with his palm. "I'm such a dumbass! I really am!"

Cornelia flew down the stairs and out into the kitchen. She slammed the bowls down in the sink and stood leaning over them. The tears were fogging her vision and her shoulders were shaking. Ama, Toby, Ellie and Finn had been sitting around the table and just finished their dinner when the young redhead had stormed down through the stairs and slammed with the dishes. Whatever they had been talking and laughing about, immediately ended when they saw her. Ellie frowned worriedly and left the table to walk up to her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong, Miss?" She asked, honestly concerned about the upset teen.

But Cornelia slapped her hand away and backed a few steps. "Get yer hands off me, hyena!" She spat before turning around and bolt through the door. Leaving them behind in the house. The ones downstairs confused and worried, the one in the attic just as sad and frustrated as herself.

_How DARE he?! _Cornelia wanted to smash something. To ruin something! And the best place to do that was up in her own room, so that's where she was headed. _I shouldn't have saved his skin! How DARE he to reject me like that?! I fuckin' OWN his sorry ass! He CAN'T reject me!_

She ran up to the residence and threw the doors open. In the great hall was Lucy. She had been busy with cleaning the floor so when Cornelia stormed in she yelped and almost dropped the brush. She saw how she ran past her without giving her as much as a look, and ran upstairs to her bedroom. Lucy instantly felt that something was wrong and threw the brush she had been using into the bucket of water by her side. She picked up her long, dark brown skirt and ran after Cornelia, and caught up just as the redhead slammed her door shut in the cheetahs face.

Not long after that, she heard loud shouts and curses, and heard how Cornelia threw things around in her room in one of the worst tantrums yet. Knowing how dangerous it could be to walk in on her while she was upset like this, Lucy decided to wait out the storm.

It took a while until the ruckus ended completely, the last thing Lucy heard was how something big made out of glass was smashed, followed by loud sobs. Her stomach churned in worry as she turned the knob and carefully walked into her room, and was met by the sight of smashed books and pillows, feathers littering the place and even her writing desk had been flipped upside down. Cornelia herself stood in front of what once had been her full-figure mirror, her head held low and blood was dripping from her right, balled fist. Mirror shards were littered all around her and her relentless sobbing was echoing through her room.

"M-Miss Cornelia?" Lucy slowly and carefully walked up to her young ward. "Cornelia?" Cornelia slowly turned her head to her old nanny for a short while before her head drooped again and began to wail loudly. Lucy hurried to put her arm around her. "Cornelia honey, what happened?!"

"F-fuck off, Lu!" The redhead sobbed and tried to shake the cheetah off. "J-just leave me alone!"

"Not 'til ya tell me what's happened!" Lucy said with a determined voice and led her over to the bed, where she made her sit down so she could take a look her hand, which obviously got cut when she smashed the mirror. "Look what you've done, Miss; ya just gave yourself seven years of bad luck!" It was a pathetic try to lighten the redheads mood. The only time Lucy had ever seen Cornelia all torn up like this was when her parents refused to give her a third roadrunner for her eleventh birthday.

"He doesn't love me, Lu..." She sobbed, which made Lucy stop cleaning the blood off her hand with a napkin for a moment and look at her with a concerned face. "Bentley doesn't love me!" The tears wouldn't stop running down her cheeks, and she used her shirt to wipe her nose.

"Oh, Cornelia..." Lucy mumbled and put her arms around the teen in a comforting hug. "There, there... All will be fine, you'll see!"

"N-no, it won't! I want him, Lu! B-but he doesn't want me!" She sniveled and wiped her nose again. "I saved his sorry life, but that fuckin' asshole friendzoned me!"

Lucy couldn't help but to feel sorry for her young ward as she tried her best to calm her down. She had always gotten everything she wanted, except for the roadrunner on her eleventh birthday. To suddenly be rejected by someone she felt so strongly for must have been quite the shock...

"I told you so..." Gabriel Aventine suddenly appeared in the doorway with his arms folded across his wide chest and a serious look on his face. His wife and brother joined him as well.

"We were just waiting for this to happen..." Grace said sadly and shook her head. "We're so awfully sorry, darling. You should have listened to us!" Cornelias sobbing slowed down and she looked up at her mother with bloodshot and teary eyes. "We told you to stay away from them since they could hurt you, and look what happened!"

Her daughters face turned red as she hung her head and began to cry again. The guy she loved had just broken her heart, and worst of all: her parents had been right all along; mingling with the slaves would get her hurt sooner or later. And there's a lot of different ways to be hurt in.

"Get out..." Cornelia hissed between her sobs at her parents.

"In a moment, there's somethin' we need to tell ya first..." Gabriel said and signed for Lucy to leave the room. "Lucy, finish up downstairs. We need to talk to her alone!"

"I-I'm sorry, sir, but can't it wait?" Lucy said and looked up at Mr Aventine as she still held the upset Cornelia in her arms. "Look at her, she's all torn up! I say we give her 'til t'morrow...!"

"YOU say?! An' I say that if ya disobey one more order from me I'll give ya to the Sues as a gift faster than ya can say 'help me'!" Gabriel snarled at his slave. "Have I made myself clear? Or do I have to spell it out for ya?!"

"N-no, sir..." Lucy mumbled in response and averted her eyes. "I understand..."

He pointed with a stiff finger at the door. "Then GIT!" The cheetah hesitated before giving Cornelia one last quick hug and scurried out of the room. Matt closed the door after the her before turning to his niece.

Cornelia buried her face in her hands and tried to stop crying, but didn't succeed that very well. She felt her mom sit down next to her and try to do the same thing Lucy was doing, but she hissed at her and shrugged her hands off. "I said get out!" She hissed at her parents and uncle. "Leave me alone!"

"We've got somethin' to tell ya first, Cornelia..." Her father said. "A couple of weeks ago yer mother sent a letter to her ol' boardin' school, an' yesterday we finally got the good news that ya have been accepted!"

Cornelia slowly lifted her head and stared in disbelief at her father. "W-wha? What're ya sayin'?"

"We're sayin' that you'll git to go to a real school for girls! I fear that spendin' so much time with that slave has given ya a twisted view of our world an' how it works. But I know that Mrs Cohen will take those ridiculous ideas out of yer head!" Her father explained, and Matt nodded in agreement.

"An' who knows? You might turn 'to a proper lady within' a few years?" Her uncle added with a chuckle.

Cornelia kept staring at her father. "Are ya fuckin' kiddin' with me?" Was all she managed to say, still refusing to believe what she just heard. She had stopped crying, all she could think right now was: _This can't be happenin'!_ "Y-you're sendin' me away?!"

"Don't worry; you'll thank us later, honey!" Her mother said as cheerfully as she could. "We were right about the slaves, weren't we?! Then I promise you that we will be right about Mrs Cohens Boarding School for Girls"

"Boardin' School?! For GIRLS?! You have GOTTA be fuckin' kiddin'!" She growled and stood up from the bed. "Git the FUCK outta my room! NOW!" She yelled and stomped her foot on the ground. "Git! And send Lucy back here!"

Her father nodded and signed for the others to follow him out. "We'll wake you up early in the mornin'; the day after tomorrow a stagecoach will pick ya up to take ya down to the train station. It will probably take all day for the women to git that hyena-stench offa ya!"

"Hyena-stench?! I'll give ya for hyena-stench!" Cornelia exclaimed angrily. "JUST FUCK OFF ALREADY!"

Grace sighed and shook her head so her red curls swayed. "Oh I hope Mrs Cohen could git her stop talkin' like that!"

"Don'tcha worry, Grace! She will!" Her husband said and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder when she returned to the men. "She got'cha to stop draggin' yer feet when walkin', y'know!" Her mother seemed both reassured, and embarrassed, to be reminded of that.

Just as the adults were leaving her room, she hollered for them to stop. Curiously, they turned around and watched as their daughter angrily balled her fists. "I'll tell y'all one last thing, b'cause as of t'morrow I ain't speakin' with any of ya ever again!" She growled. "I know y'all have heard the news; there's a war goin' on not too far away. A war that will decide the freedom of all slaves, if the right side wins that is. I'll let y'all know, that I stand on the right side, and we WILL win! And when we do, I'll be standin' out there so I can watch the people you've used, my friends, finally be able to walk free! And so I can watch the looks on yer fuckin' faces as yer only source of income goes down the shitter!"

"Friends?" Uncle Matt said with a snort. "You mean friends like the hyena who broke yer heart?"

"FUCK OFF!" Cornelia screamed and stomped with her foot on the floor again. "And give me Lucy!"

…

A couple of hours later, when the sun had set and the night covered the land in shadows, Bentley couldn't sleep at all. He just couldn't get rid of Cornelias brokenhearted face, and he couldn't do anything to stop her from still crying in his mind either; he had done a horrible mistake. He couldn't stop cursing himself for hurting her like that! He should've just played along, and accepted her. Sure, that would have been like lying to her, but rather that than to hurt her like that! But then again, if she were to find out that he had lied to her, she would probably react even worse! No matter how much he twisted or turned on it, he would just end up hurting her anyway.

"I'm so sorry, Corny..." He thought out loud for probably the 100th time that night. "I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"It's alright, buster..." Her sudden voice made him jolt in surprise and clumsily turn around to see where the voice came from. He saw her standing by the top of the stairs, her arms were resting along her sides and she had a weary look on her face. Small, white feathers were stuck in her hair, and her eyes were bloodshot and puffy after all the crying. "I... I'm the one who should be sorry, y'know..." She said lowly and averted her eyes. "I overreacted..."

"I'm sorry!" Bentley said anyway and slowly managed to sit up straight on the bed, even if his back hurt like hell. "I didn't mean to hurt you, but I couldn't lie to ya either!"

"I'm glad ya didn't..." She said and managed to pull off a tired smile before averting her eyes. "And don't worry 'bout me, I'll live!" She rubbed the back of her neck and picked out a feather out of her hair. "I... I just came here to let ya know that... That I ain't mad at'cha... I don't hate ya, I just overreacted a bit..." She looked over at him again. "That won't happen again, I promise!"

They went quiet for a while, the only thing that were heard for a long time was the crickets on the outside. They were just staring at each other, and of course it turned awkward after a while.

"Soo... Where do ya go now, Corny?" He asked carefully, she shrugged in response.

"I dunno... I don't wanna sleep at home, but I don't wanna have to wake Granny up either..." She chuckled. "Think there's room on the loft?"

He looked around for a while before his eyes fell on his bed. It wasn't exactly king-sized, but two people should be able to fit on it. "Well... I guess there's room here with me, if I just scooted over a bit...?"

She chortled out a sudden laugh and rolled her eyes. "THAT is like, the oldest trick in the book, bloody pervert!"

"What? Wait... What, no!" He did a mental facepalm. _Another job well done, Bentley!_ "I just meant that since ya didn't wanna trouble Granny-...!"

"I know, I know!" She laughed and rolled her eyes a second time. "I'm just messin' 'round with ya! And NOT messin' 'round like THAT!"

Bentley couldn't help but to laugh as well. "I think we're both gettin' too tired for this discussion..."

"Yeah, just scoot over already, fatty!" She snickered and made her way up to him.

"Sure, as long as you doesn't try anythin' funny there, sister!"

"Same goes for you, buster!"

**And a moment of silence for our fallen sister in the Friendzone...**

…

**Perhaps this might also explain a bit why Bentley always has such a hard time to gather enough courage to tell Priss his feelings for her, and why it ended with HER having to be the one to say the L-word first x)  
**

**Once again; sorry for the wait!**


	15. Goodbye

**Okay, at first I planned to let this story end at 15 chapters, but it seems like the chapters are longer than I predicted, so the new goal is set at 20 chapters x)! Let's see if I can keep that!**

**This is a pretty short and sappy chappie though, sorry 'bout that ^^"**

***** Chapter Fifteen : Goodbye *****

He wasn't sure what time it was when he woke up, but it was probably shortly after everyone else had gone to work. All he knew was that he woke up by the same sound that he had done a couple of weeks ago, the day before he got whipped; a steady, purring sound. He slowly opened his eyes and immediately saw the red hair that belonged to his best friend. Both were lying on their side, facing each other so both would fit on the narrow bed. She was sleeping with her head underneath his chin and a hand behind his neck.

Lying on his side did put a lot more strain on his back, but if he moved to sleep face-down, he'd just push her down to the floor. And that would NOT be pleasant for HIM later! Besides, he didn't wanna risk waking her up, considering how she reacted the last time they woke up next to each other. At least they were still wearing their clothes this time around!

"Bentley?" She asked suddenly, and he jolted in surprise.

"Y-you're awake?!" He blurted out and pushed himself up on one elbow. She nodded quietly. "H-how long have you been up?!"

She shrugged. "A while..."She scooted closer to him, and he felt his cheeks burn red when her hand traveled down to his arm and followed the outlines of one of the darker spots he had on his upper arm. "I never noticed ya had spots b'fore... I thought only spotted hyenas had spots?"

"Well, my grandma was a spotted hyena..."

"Oh... That's kinda cool actually"

"Yeah, too bad her own tribe thought she was crazy and made her an outcast, forcin' her to turn to the brown hyenas... Y'see, she got framed for the murder of her mate, when it really was another nutcase who killed him..."

"Ouch!"

"Yeah; ouch!"

Cornelia smiled faintly as she kept tracing the other spot just slightly below the first one. "Three years..." She said lowly after a moment of silence, making Bentley tilt his head in confusion.

"Three years? What?"

"I think I've been in love with you for three years now..."

He flinched. _Not this again!_ "I-I'm so sorry, Corny, but I-...!"

"I know, I know..." She sighed and withdrew her hand. "We're just friends..." A stabbing feeling of guilt hit Bentley and he placed his hand over hers. They were quiet for a little while longer, until she opened her mouth again. "Oh there was one thing I've kept forgettin' to tell ya! While you were out cold, a war started!" She had a hopeful smile on her face. "If the yankees win, y'all will go free!"

Bentley stared at her in disbelief. "R-really?"

She nodded. "I can't believe I've forgotten 'bout that all this time! But dad has been keepin' that a secret from y'all. He doesn't want his slaves to get any 'ideas'..." She added the last part with a bitter mutter. "Y'know, the humans used to have slaves too, but they've been freed a long, LONG time ago, and so people thought it was our turn to free ours as well! But of course, there were those who didn't want that and now we're fightin' 'bout it as well..." She rolled her eyes and laughed. "I hope they'll win, b'cause I would LOVE to see the expression on daddys face when y'all suddenly are free to go!"

Bentley chuckled. "Yeah, I hope so too!"

"What would you do?" She asked curiously and pushed herself up on one elbow as well. "When you're free, I mean?"

"Go home again" He answered without skipping a beat. "And I hope Finn, Ellie and Toby wanna come with me... Ya wanna come too?"

"Come with you? To Africa?! Hah! You bet yer ass I wanna!" She grinned and nodded.

"Great! Y'know, I bet you'd like my sister! Have I ever told'cha 'bout her?!"

"What?! You gotta sister?!"

"Oh, apparently I haven't... Yeah, a big sister! Her name... I-I can't really remember her name though... But I bet I will whenever I get home!"

Talking about returning home had made Bentley so hopeful that he for a moment forgot about his back and moved to sit up on his knees as he talked. But that sudden movement made the burning pain return and he was forced to sit bent over. But he didn't care; there was hope for him to return home! He was busy planning with Cornelia that he didn't hear when the door downstairs was flung open and the steps of two men entering the cottage. But when the sound of uncle Matts voice reached Cornelias ears, she instantly froze up. She had completely forgotten about today, and what was going to happen tomorrow! Oh what she wouldn't do to change it...

"B-Bentley..." She said with a low voice, interrupting his overly-excited blabbering.

"Yeah, Corny?" He said, but when he saw the sad look on her face, his ears drooped. "S-somethin's wrong, ain't it?" It was more of a statement than a question, and as soon as he finished the sentence, she threw herself around him and buried her face in his shoulder in a quick hug before letting go. She saw his puzzled and slightly scared expression, and put her hand on his shoulder

"L-later... Bentley..." She said and before he had any time to react she had planted a quick peck on his cheek, bolted out of the bed and practically flew down the stairs. Leaving a very confused Bentley behind.

…

She never returned that day, which made Bentley slightly worried. She had seemed really sad about something before she bolted off, but what could it possibly have been? For a minute he began to feel bad; what if it was because he rejected her yesterday?

It was all so... weird, he thought. He had never thought that Corny really LOVE loved him! To him she was just a friend, a BEST friend, which she always had been and always would be. But when she made it clear that she saw him as something more, he had instantly began to feel both scared and guilty! And the fact that she had came back to apologize the night before only puzzled him. That wasn't exactly the first time Corny had overreacted on something he did or said, but she had NEVER returned and apologized! She rarely ever apologized, especially not when she knew she was wrong! In fact, ever since she returned after his rejection, she had acted very odd. But it was probably just normal to act differently after your heart got broken. And over and over again, Bentley cursed himself for being the one who broke it...

It wasn't until the next day he finally got to see her, but it was also the last time he ever saw her again.

The next day was the day they would allow him to go for a short walk outside. After being bedridden for so long, his legs were getting stiff and if he began to work immediately after, chances were that his still young body wouldn't be able to handle that pressure. Therefore, they managed to convince the overseers that he should at least get a few more days to move around again before throwing him back out on the fields.

Even if he had a walking stick to support himself on, Ellie still walked by his side to support him whenever he needed. She hadn't seen Cornelia either, not since her uncle and Lasher came to fetch her yesterday morning. But she wasn't so surprised, not after she heard that Bentley didn't return the feelings Cornelia had for him. At first, Ellie had actually been a bit cross with him, but that passed and now when she knew how bad he felt about it, she actually felt a bit sorry for them both.

Ellie and Bentley were walking along the creek separating the slaves living quarters from the cotton fields, when he suddenly noticed Chuck exiting the stables with Ecarg strapped to the wagon. Ever since Chuck told the Aventines everything about Bentley and Cornelia, he had been more or less thrown out by Ama and the hyenas, as they saw him as a traitor. But Bentley didn't really blame him for telling, Mr Aventine WERE going to find out sooner or later anyway.

He and Ellie curiously exchanged glances as they watched Chuck leave with the wagon and came to a halt on the road. Apparently the Aventines were going somewhere, since Cornelia and her parents were seen leaving the residence and walk towards the wagon. But then Bentley noticed something stranger than usual; out of the three, Cornelia was the only one who was all dolled up, wearing a long, violet dress and another matching bonnet. Behind them came one of the houseslaves, a male cheetah, carrying on a heavy suitcase. Before Cornelia silently climbed up in the wagon, her mother gave her a long hug and said some comforting words to her, but only got a spiteful glare in return.

Bentley felt his stomach churn. "I-is Cornelia goin' somewhere?" He asked with a glance at Ellie, but Ellie just shook her head. She had no idea what was going on either!

The luggage was flung up back on the trolly and Chuck cracked the reins, making the javelina trot forward. Cornelia sat in the middle of the back row and when she saw Bentley watching her, her cheeks burned red in humiliation and she pulled the brim of the bonnet down in front of her eyes.

"Corny...?" He staggered up to the fence by the road just as the wagon passed. "Corny?!"

He went silent when he saw a single tear slowly roll down her cheek as they drove past, and he leaned over the fence, ignoring the pain in the wounds on his back. He just stared after her as the wagon slowly went further and further away along the straight, dusty road. He didn't like this. First she left alone, and what was up with all that luggage?!

"Hey! Stop gawkin', hyena!" Lashers unmistakeable voice rumbled behind Ellie and him, and Ellie hurried to put an arm around Bentleys shoulders to lead him away from the fence. "Or ya want another round with the whip?"

Bentley stopped and stared at the wolverine. "W-where's she goin'?"

"That ain't none of yer business! Now git the hell outta my sight before I add more stripes to yer back!"

Bentley was about to respond, but Ellie hushed him and quietly dragged him with her away from the overseer and back to Amas cabin. They couldn't see the victorious smirk on Lashers face, but they could sense it, and it made Bentley furious for some reason...

…

From what Lucy told them later that day, Cornelia had been sent to a boarding school. A girls only, boarding school. 'Mrs Cohens Boarding School for Girls'. Bentley only had to hear the name to know that it was going to be like hell for his friend. And he honestly felt sorry for her.

Since Lucy wouldn't be needed anymore, and she hadn't exactly made the Aventines proud during these last weeks events, she had been kicked out and sent to the fields instead. Since Cornelia left, she was then living with Ellie in her little shack. Going from being a houseslave to a farmhand was going to be tough for her, but Ellie had promised to help her adapt as much as she could.

Bentley couldn't stop thinking about Cornelia, and it gave him troubles when he returned to work on the fields. Due to his back, he couldn't work with what he usually did, so instead they put him on picking cotton with the women and children. It was an easy job, extremely boring and lengthy, but easy. Except that he sometimes got so caught up in his thoughts of Corny that the overseers had to crackle their whips right by his ears to get him to keep working again.

The months passed, his back healed up again, and he still couldn't believe that Corny was gone. According to the houseslaves she wasn't going to be back for a couple of years either, and when she finally would return, she wouldn't be her old self anymore. And that thought was more scaring to Bentley than the thought of her having a crush on him was!

He still got into trouble every now and then with the overseers, just simply because he couldn't keep his mouth shut. And his sassy comments only got worse since he worried about Cornelia. Sometimes it would even go as far as they to start whipping him again, despite that his back now more or less was full of scars. Ellie and Ama were the ones who always ended up as the ones to tend to his wounds, and they always asked him the same thing: "Why are you doing this to yourself?". And to that, Bentley never had any good answer.

More months passed, and something that was quite the surprise to many happened; Toby and Ellie announced that they were going to get married. Apparently, Toby had finally gathered the courage and asked her to marry him. Ellie, who had been waiting for that day in all her life, nearly fainted both from shock and happiness. And luckily, Mr Aventine approved of it and not many days later, the wedding ceremony was held. To tell the truth; Bentley couldn't help a couple of tears (MANLY tears) from being shed that day.

The next great thing that happened was that a couple of houseslaves had offered Bentley their help to send a letter to Cornelia. Apparently, her parents sent her letters each month, containing some money, and since they knew how close friends those two were, they were willing to help Bentley in case he wanted to send her a letter as well. Which of course he wanted. They got him a pencil and some paper, all he had to do was to leave it to Finn once he was done with it, and he was going to leave it to the houseslaves.

But writing the letter proved to be harder than Bentley had anticipated; he had no idea what to say to her! After struggling to compose a letter for about an hour, he finally managed to finish it right as his day of work begun. He swiftly and discretely left the letter in Finns hands and never saw it again. But he hoped it got sent without any troubles.

But then, a bit over a year after she left, the horrible news came. They didn't even want to tell Bentley about it at first, but sooner or later they had to; a fire had suddenly broken out during the night at the boarding school, leaving the big building as nothing more than a smoking pile of ashes. Only a handful of girls had made it out alive, but none of them had been Cornelia.

When Bentley first heard it, he refused to believe it. He COULDN'T believe it! At first he scoffed it off as nothing but a fake rumor, created by the Aventines themselves to get him to stop caring about their daughter, but sooner or later he had to accept it; Cornelia was gone. His best friend was gone forever. The others decided that it would be best to leave him alone, as he sat in his room on the attic, just screaming into a pillow and punching the mattress. Desperately trying to get the sorrow out of his mind.

The next day he had been standing out in the fields, just trying his best to keep his puffy, red eyes open and focused on the task at hand, when Grace came up to him, just marching out into the field. He had stopped with whatever he was doing when he saw Cornelias mother march up to him with a hateful look on her faces and tears in her eyes. Before he could say anything to her, she had given him a hard slap over the face.

"Its YOUR fault!" She screamed as the tears flooded out of her golden colored eyes and she threw another slap into his face. "If YOU hadn't touched her, we wouldn't have had to send her to her death! It's ALL YOUR FAULT, hyena! YOUR FAULT THAT SHE'S DEAD!"

Bentley felt his throat tighten up as his mistress kept screaming at him. "I-I'm sorry, Mrs..." He said lowly. "I... I didn't mean to..."

"Are you happy now, savage?!" She hissed angrily and sobbed. "Our Cornelia is dead, all thanks to YOU!" With that, she spun around just as her husband entered the field as well. She walked up to him with same, determined strides. "Get rid of him, Gabriel!" She said and pointed at Bentley with a shaky finger, who stood still on the same spot and silently stared down at the ground. "You shouldn't even have bought that... That THING, from Tim at all! Get rid of him! Get rid of him now!" She broke down crying and threw herself into her husbands arms.

Bentley slowly looked up, but saw that Mr Aventine was staring at him with a grim scowl and instantly averted his eyes again. "I-I'm sorry..." He said quietly once again, but the two mountain lions ignored him.

"I want him gone from this plantation!"

"I know, Grace! You've told me that!" Mr Aventine said with a low mumble and looked back down at his wife. "I'll send him to the auctions t'morrow..."

Bentley listened to them as he slowly picked the pick up again and continued to dig up the earth, while fighting the storm of emotions inside him. They were right. If it hadn't been for him, they wouldn't have had to send Cornelia away, and she wouldn't have had to die. He bit down hard on his tongue. First it was his mother, then his father, then Buck and now Corny. When was this going to end?

...

They sent Wilkes down with him to the auctions in the nearest big town the next day, but apparently the Willows had already spread the rumor about the infamous Aventine slave who had a relationship with the daughter. So when they began to realize that the hyena from the Aventine plantation with the ruined back was just THAT slave, nobody bid a single cent. They had heard that he was a troublemaker who on top of all could write and read, and has very little respect for his masters, and nobody wanted a slave like that! So when Wilkes were forced to return with him to the plantation, Mr Aventine was all but happy. But Bentley? He was just as apathetic as the night before.

Ever since he heard about Cornelias possible death, and Grace's accusations, he hadn't said a single word to anyone. He had only stared down at the ground, and slowly shake his head when he was asked if he wanted any dinner.

And that was how he was for the following month: quiet, careful, obedient. Exactly the opposite of what he used to be. His 'family' couldn't stop worrying about him, and when he kept refusing to eat it had ended with having Finn to tie him down to a chair so granny Ama could force-feed him. They were all at a loss at what to do with him; he woke up, skipped breakfast, worked all day, skipped dinner, went to bed and repeated the procedure the next day. Still without speaking to anyone. If Lasher tried to spur him into an argument, or to give him even the slightest reason to whip him, he'd only give the overseer a hollow look before returning to work.

But then he changed again. It began about a month later, when Lasher suddenly got a big slab of mud in the back of his head, followed by a loud, maniacal laughter. When he turned around, he saw the guilty one; Bentley. Bentley stood bent over and laughed his ass off at the mud-smeared wolverine. From then, it all became worse and worse; Bentley would set traps for the overseers, that sometimes even other slaves got caught in. But Bentley didn't care who got trapped: he'd just laugh as much as he could anyway. He openly mocked the overseers and their families, even the Aventines were met with a sarcastic comment every now and then. His whippings, that usually only occurred a couple of times per month, were now happening a couple of times per week instead. And he'd always laugh just as loud and maniacally while being whipped, as if someone just fell for one of his pranks, and eventually it began to scare some of the overseers. Some totally refused to whip him in the end.

Even if Ama and the hyenas had wanted him to snap out of the apathetic state, this wasn't any better: this way he could get himself killed! But he wouldn't listen to them when they begged him to calm down, it usually only made things worse!

One day when Ellie couldn't help but to ask him why he suddenly was like this, he had only grinned up at her and answered: "B'cause my dad told me to! I dream 'bout him, an' he keeps tellin' me to laugh an' be happy! An' that's what I'm doin'; I'm laughin', and is happy!"

That answer had made them all exchange looks with each other; now he had completely lost it!

**Meh, as I said; it's a pretty short chapter ^^"... Anyways, see y'all next chapter (not sure when that comes, but it WILL :P!)**


	16. Gone and replaced

**Just thought I should update here, it's been a while ^^... And its one of those 'not-all-too-cheerful' chapters...**

***** Chapter Sixteen : Gone And Replaced *****

**Two years later...**

Bentley woke up early in the morning, and just stared straight ahead of himself with a dull expression on his face, just like every morning since Cornelia had been declared dead. Her out of all people. And it was all thanks to him...

If she hadn't known him, she wouldn't have been sent away to her doom. There was a time when he wouldn't trade her friendship for anything else in the world, but now he would do anything to rewrite the past; if he would be able to go back to the time where he first met her, he would terminate their friendship before it even got rooted. If she hadn't known him, and he wouldn't know her, she wouldn't have to die.

He clenched his eyes shut and rummaged under his pillow for the little notebook she gave him, found it and looked through it yet another time. It was mostly his scribblings in it, but it was the sketches and little doodles that Corny had drawn that had made him keep it, and still look through it. It was like a little piece of her that still remained. The pages were getting tattered and torn because of his constant reading, and some pages were close to falling off. Eventually he got to his favorite sketch and felt his mouth get tugged up in a careful smile; it was a detailed drawing of him, sitting cross-legged on the floor and with his face buried in a book.

Cornelia didn't have many skills; most things she touched tend to break (and she would always blame it on someone else), her imagination was tragic, few people could understand her handwriting and even if she might look athletic, she had the agility and swiftness of a drunk hippo in a pottery store, not to mention her mathematics skills... But here he could see that if there was anything she actually was good at, it was drawing. The sketch of him was completely different from the rest of the doodles that littered the pages, since he could tell that she had actually put down time and effort into this thing. He didn't exactly look himself in the mirror every day, but he knew what he looked like, and just got more and more amazed with how good this sketch was!

He remembered the surprise he got when he rummaged through the notebook and discovered this for the first time, shortly after Cornelia left. It was like it just popped up in the book overnight. He almost felt a bit flattered!

He looked at the sketch for a while, and felt tears coming to his eyes again. But as it did, his fathers words echoed in his mind again: "_Can you promise me one thing, kid? That no matter what happens in your life, stay cheerful, alright?_" He closed the notebook and shoved it underneath the pillow again before flopping over to his back. The five lashes he got two days ago were still fresh and stung like hell as he lied down on his back and stared at the roof, but he ignored the pain. "_All your life you'll encounter tragedies and hardships, but if you let those bad things control your life, then what's the point with living at all? No, I prefer to smile and laugh it all off!_" Bentley took a deep breath before slowly curling his mouth up in a wide grin. _"Laugh at them all, mock the worlds pitiful tries to bring you down!"_

He chuckled lowly and nodded. "I sure will, dad..." Today was a new day, and he would soon have to meet the overseers and the Aventines. And he was going to greet them all with an unchangeable grin, and a mocking laughter.

After a few minutes, he finally managed to get up and get dressed before walking down the stairs. Winter were drawing closer and the chilly winds from the outside managed to breach the thin walls of the cabin, and he shuddered involuntarily as the cold hit him. He heard a low, rustling cough as he got to the first floor. Mere seconds after that, granny Ama emerged from her room, shielded from the outside world by a drape in front of the doorway. Bentley frowned worriedly when the old lizard began to cough again.

"Hey, are ya okay there, Granny?" He asked and put a hand on the much shorter girdled lizards shoulder.

She nodded and drew a few, quick gasps before answering. "I'm just fine, hun" She patted his hand and walked out into the kitchen. He hesitated before following her. "It's just a cold, it'll pass!" She continued with a cheery tone in her voice and began preparing the breakfast.

Bentley was quiet for a while. He really didn't like that coughing she has had for a couple of days now, but didn't say anything. She always kept saying it was nothing but a cold and that it would pass soon, but something made him doubt it. "So, want any help with the breakfast or somethin'?"

"Ya mean so ya can burn down the kitchen again?" Ama quickly replied with a smirk.

"Aw c'mon, it was an accident! And the ENTIRE kitchen didn't burn down! Only the curtains!" Bentley flinched, and the old lizard turned with a chuckle back to the pots. "But I kinda did ya a favor too; those curtains were hella ugly if ya ask me..."

"Yes, they were, weren't they?" She nodded at the table. "If you want somethin' to do, ya can go put the plates on the table. They'll be here soon, and I'll just heat up some leftovers from yesterday so the food will be done shortly too!"

Bentley nodded and silently began to rummage through the cupboards, and discovered how few bowls there were left. He was just about to point it out for Ama, but she seemed to already know what he was going to say.

"I know, I know..." She chuckled. "It's the little one, I'm afraid. He does love to throw stuff 'round and watch it break, that little rascal..."

Bentley grinned and started picking out the remaining bowls from the cupboard. The little one, Bastian, was Ellie and Tobys son who was a bit over a year ago. He had already learned to throw stuff to the side, and he thought it was hilarious when things crashed. He totally get that from his granddad, Ellie and Finn had said. Their father used to boast about being able to toss apple-sized objects to the other side of the plantation they grew up in.

Besides that, the little cub had gotten his mother long, spiky, black hair and mane, rounded ears and bright red eyes, but his fur was white like his fathers and he had both uneven spots and squiggly stripes covering his body. Plus, Bentley and him had gotten along perfectly ever since he was born, there was even a time when his parents couldn't even get him to sleep unless Bentley was there! And Bentley completely adored the little cub, almost made him wish he had one of his own. But that thought made him laugh at himself as well, since he knew he'd never even find someone he'd be able to call his own. Not if his life continued like this.

He had just put down the bowls on the table when the door opened and Toby, shortly followed by Ellie carrying a sleepy Bastian, entered the kitchen. Bastians eyes were half-closed as he clinged around his mothers neck, but when he saw Bentley, his eyes immediately opened wide and he made a happy, squeaky sound as he reached for his favorite 'uncle'. Ellie handed her son over to Bentley with a small smile before helping Ama with the breakfast.

Bentley laughed as the little cub in his arms grinned and reached to grab his ears with both of his little hands, but Bentley stopped him. "Haven't I told you that bad things happen to those who touch my ears?" He joked, but the cub just tilted his head slightly to the side with a confused look on his face, before giggling and reaching for the brown hyenas ears again.

Bentley rolled his eyes and put Bastian down in his chair, specially designed and built by Bentley himself to stop the little cub from falling down, before sitting down next to him. Finn and Lucy arrived in time for the food to be served and the rest of the breakfast routine went fast, and Bentley actually managed to save a bowl from being crushed against the floor by the little cub. The little swan dive he had to do to catch the bowl had apparently been hilarious, as Bastian happily clapped his little hands and laughed hysterically at the act. And it made Bentley burst out into laughter as well.

After the breakfast, Bentley stayed behind to go upstairs and fetch a warmer shirt, since today was going to be a pretty chilly day on the fields, but when he got downstairs again, he saw Ama sitting by the table with her head bent down. She looked like she was in deep thought. When he walked past, he also noticed that she held a little pale yellow voodoo doll in her hands. He had seen those before; they were lucky charms and not meant to harm, as many seemed to believe. Like little guardian angels that brought luck to the one they were given to. But the overseers didn't know that, so she used them to threaten and taunt the overseers with her 'voodoo witchcraft'.

Just as Bentley put a hand on the doorhandle to open it and follow the others out, he heard Ama lowly call his name. He stopped and turned around. "Yeah?" He said, and frowned worriedly when he saw a quick glint of pain flash in her eyes, but it was gone just as quick as it appeared. "G-granny? Is everythin'-...?"

She nodded and stood up. "There's somethin' I'd like to give ya, hun" She said and held out the little doll in her hand. "I've got a feelin' you'll need this more than I do" She added with a smile.

Bentley looked from her, down to the doll and then back again. "Umm... Thanks..." He said carefully and carefully walked up to her and accepted the doll. "But..." He glanced down at it for a second. "Why do you-...?"

"Oh, just a hunch" She said with a sly shrug. "And who knows, in the future you might even find someone special you'll want to give it to?" Before Bentley had any time to respond, she had turned him around and gave him a light push towards the door. "Go on now, hun! Wouldn't want'cha to git 'to more trouble with them overseers than ya usually do!"

"But, won't this help me against them?" He said with a laugh and walked towards the door, waving the doll at her.

"It brings good luck, hun! Not miracles!"

She watched with an amused smile in the corner of her mouth as Bentley trotted out and tried to catch up to the others. But as soon as the door closed behind him, a sharp pain ignited in the old lizards chest once again and she covered her mouth with her hand as a violent cough attack forced her to sit back down by the table. When she finally stopped coughing, she drew a pained, wheezing breath and leaned back against the chair. She swiped with her spiky hand across her feverish forehead and tried to force the pain away.

It was that damn cold. This autumn had been colder than usual, and eventually she had come down with a fever, not being as young and strong as she used to be. But she thought the cold would have gone away by now, but it only grew worse each day. The others didn't know, however. She had forced herself to keep up a strong appearance to not worry them. Nobody except for Bentley knew that she was ill. She could tell that Bentley knew, seeing the worry on his usually gleeful face told her everything.

She sighed sadly and tried to get up without causing another coughing fit. Bentley was a good boy. A bit crazy in the head, sure, but without a single bad bone in his body! If only he could stop getting himself into fights with the overseers all the time, even if he knows there's no chance he'll win! It always hurt when she saw Finn come home, dragging a barely conscious, yet chuckling, Bentley under his arm. The young hyenas back was by now ruined, with scars that would never fade and fur that would never grow back. Why? Just to have some laughs. He had to be more than a bit crazy in the head, and it was such a shame.

Ama began to clean the dishes before she'd go to her shift at the Gin. She assured herself that she would be fine, that the fever and the coughing would go away in a while. She had to be okay, for her hyenas and Lucys sake.

…

But only a few days later, the unavoidable happened; the old lizard collapsed during her work and was too weak to go on, forcing her to stay bedridden. But nothing anyone would do for her seemed to help her, as she visibly got more and more ill, until she finally passed away.

Granny Amas death came as a shock for all the slaves, but most of all for her family. Ellie and Lucy had been at her side when she drew her final breath, and it had been tough to accept it when it happened. Ellie had been crying non stop for the entire night, and since Toby had been busy trying to comfort his wife, Bastian had to be placed in Bentleys care. The little cub didn't know what was going on, or why his mom was so sad, and that made him scared. Scared enough to even give Bentley a hard time putting him to sleep!

The day after the funeral was held, everyone had been sitting around the table. Silent and sullen. They all had plates with food in front of them, but no one was in the mood to eat. Ellie, Toby and Bastian were going to move in the cabin and even if they told him that he could stay, Bentley didn't want to feel that he was intruding so he was moving into one of the empty houses further down towards the creek.

"I can't believe ya never said anythin'..." Finn muttered lowly, Bentley knew it was directed at him so he lowered his head.

"I'm sorry..." He responded in a low voice.

Finn had been the one most in war with his emotions after Amas death. Ever since he and Ellie came here after being sold off as mere cubs, they had been all alone. But granny Ama had taken them in, she had given them food, a home, clothes, love, everything! Now she was gone... And he just kept thinking that there had to be someone to blame. It had to be someones fault!

"Ya lived here with her! Ya would've known if she was sick!" He raised his voice slightly, making Bentley shrink in his chair.

"I know..."

"Finn, stop it!" Ellie said in a warning tone, but her brother ignored her.

"If ya would've told us we could have done somethin' earlier! We could have saved her!"

"I know!" Bentley tried to push the tears back.

Ellie stood up hastily from her chair and slammed her hands on the table. "Finn, it's NOT Bentleys fault! It's NO ONES fault! Granny didn't wanna tell us b'cause she didn't want us to worry 'bout her!"

"Yes it is!" Finn replied with a snarl. "He could've told us somethin' was wrong with her! But he didn't, and now we'll NEVER see Granny again!"

"Finn!"

"I KNOW!" Bentley yelled and swiped his arm to the side, knocking away his plate and sending it crashing into the cupboards.

Bastian was already getting startled by the adults sudden yelling at each other, so when Bentley shouted and crashed the plate, something he has never done before, the little cub began to cry loudly in fear. Ellie hurried to pick her son up from his chair and comfort him, while Bentley sat quiet in his seat, feeling everyone staring at him in shock.

"I.. I'm sorry guys... I'm sorry, Bastian..." He mumbled after a while and got up to clean up the mess he made. "I didn't mean to shout..."

"It's NOT your fault, Bentley!" Ellie said while calmly stroking her sons ears, slowly making him calm down to just quietly sobbing. "Don't listen to Finn!" She added and threw a dirty look at her brother. "He's just-...!"

"He's right, y'know..." Bentley took a broom and began to sweep the shards of the old, broken clay plate off the floor. "I..." He paused before he even got to start the sentence, took a deep breath and began sweeping again. He had always caused pain to the ones he cared about, and the ones who cared about him! First, it was his mother and father, then Buck, then Corny and now Granny...

He looked down at the broken plate and the lumps of potato that littered the floor. "I didn't mean to kill Granny... I-I just thought that sh-she had it all under cover, th-that she was just having a m-minor cold..." His vision got foggy, so he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I-I'll just go and get my things..."

Ellie handed Bastian over to Toby, walked over to Bentley and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Bentley flinched in surprise, but didn't try to writhe out of her grip.

"It ain't yer fault, Bentley! We're all sad for whats happened, but there's nothin' we could've done to change it!" She loosened her arms around him and led him back to the table, and he didn't struggle when she made him sit down again. She herself sat back down next to Toby and Bastian. "We all have so much to thank granny Ama for, she has meant so much for all of us. And now when she's gone, the least we can do for her is to stay together an' keep lookin' out for each other! I know she wouldn't want us to go on 'bout and accuse each other..." She cocked an eyebrow at Finn, who shamefully looked down at the table to avoid his sisters glance. "So instead, I think we all should just leave this b'hind us. We've got enough troubles as it is!"

Toby nodded carefully. "Y-yeah... She's r-right!"

The rest nodded as well in agreement. It was hard to go on without Ama to be there to guide them, but they would manage! Somehow...

"Hey, Bentley..." Finn said and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm really sorry... Y'know, for blamin' ya, an' yellin' at'cha an' such..."

Bentley chuckled and shook his head. "It's alright, Finn! Really" He leaned over the table towards Bastian and held out his hand at the cub. "And we're still buddies, right Basty?" Bastian was quiet, but then he giggled and grabbed Bentleys much larger hand with both of his and bit down on his knuckles. Bentley chortled out a laugh. "I take that as a yes! Thank lord ya ain't got yer fangs yet, lil' squirt!"

…

A week later, the family had gathered again for dinner. The long days work was over, Bentleys arms were sore and his hands, feet and ears were cold, so the thought of a warm meal was more than appealing to him right now. Even if Toby and Ellie now were the masters of the home, they still called the cabin 'Granny Amas Cabin'. Matt and Mr Aventine had gone the day before to buy new slaves to replace granny Ama.

Lucy and the hyenas had just gathered around the table, talking and laughing loudly while Bentley was joking around with Bastian, when a couple of careful knocks were heard from the door. Everyone turned their heads to Bentley, who hurried to throw his hands in front of himself.

"Hey, don't look at me! I ain't done nothin' t'day! I swear I wasn't the one who hoisted Wilkes longjohns up in the treetop!" He said in defense, but Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Can you open the door? You're the closest, y'know!" She said.

Bentley first blinked in confusion, but then he grinned sheepishly and chuckled at himself before standing up and strut towards the door. "WELCOME!" He said dramatically as he swung the door open. "To our GLORIOUS five-star-...! Huh?" He quickly trailed off when his eyes met a pair of confused, light blue ones.

In front of him stood a female hyena, around her early twenties just like him, her nose, pointy ears and thick hair and mane were dark brown, like a brown hyenas, but the rest of her was white and on her face and arms were clear, black stripes, like a striped hyena. She wore a simple red shirt, a long, yellow skirt and in her arms was a bundle with her belongings. When she noticed that Bentley quietly gawked in shock at her, she averted her eyes and took a bashful step back.

"Uh... I'm sorry... But, is this Granny Amas Cabin, perhaps?" Her voice was really low and soft, and he had to focus to hear what she was saying.

"W-what? Granny Amas Cab-... Oh! Yeah! This is it!" He nodded and chuckled as he leaned his shoulder against the door frame. "If ya don't mind me askin', who're ya?"

"Huh? Oh, please, do forgive me" She nodded and clenched the bundle tighter to her chest as she did a short bow. Bentley blinked in confusion. "My name is Lottie, uh, I'm new here. I just got here, the one they called Chuck told me to go to this place, and... Oh..." She trailed off when Ellies head curiously poked up behind Bentley, and the spotted hyena grinned widely.

"Hi there!" She greeted cheerfully and pushed Bentley to the side. She extracted her hand to the other female, who took a startled step back by the sudden move. "My name is Ellie!"

"Uh, Lottie..." Lottie said and carefully took Ellies hand, while still clinging to the bundle under arm.

"Bentley, go get another chair!" Ellie said to Bentley as she pulled the nervous newcomer inside the house. As they came out into the kitchen, everyone around the table curiously turned their heads to Lottie. "You came just in time; we're 'bout to eat dinner!" Ellie said and let go of Lotties hand and pointed at the staircase. "The attic is available, you could leave your stuff there and then join us, if you'd like that is? If you're tired and just wanna go to bed, it's okay too!"

Lottie stared in surprise at the other hyena female, but then a warm smile appeared on her face and she nodded. "I'd love to!" She said just as Bentley dragged an empty chair to the table. The new hyena scurried up the staircase to the attic, where Bentley used to live.

"She seemed nice" Lucy curiously said and tilted her head. "Who is she anyway?"

"She said her name was Lottie" Bentley said and sat down on his side of Bastian and picked up the spoon the little cub had thrown on the floor. He used a fold of the tables cloth to clean the utensil before scooping up some mashed potatoes with it. "She's new here, apparently..."

To everyones surprise, Finn snorted and leaned back on his chair. "Whatta surprise... Granny ain't even been gone for a week, and he's ALREADY got a new one to fill her place!" He growled lowly and folded his arms.

"Finn, don't act like it's her fault-..." Ellie began to say, but got cut off by her big brother.

"I don't! But it's the Aventines! This ain't right! It just ain't feel right!" He slowly shook his head. "Ever since that Cornelia died..." He discontinued when Bentley and Lucy sadly turned their heads away. "Oh... Sorry y'two..."

"Do ya really have to be so insensitive, jerk?" Ellie growled at her brother and put her hands on her hips.

"It's okay..." Bentley mumbled while Lucy remained silent. He knew what Finn was going to say; the Aventines had hated Bentley and his family, ever since the news of Cornelias death. They had tried to get him sold off for years now, but being the well-known troublemaking joker he was, it was close to impossible. When they couldn't get rid off him they nowadays did everything in their power to make life sourer for the hyenas. And there were rumored that Mr Aventine now was thinking of turning to the railroads, or the mines to hear if they needed someone cheap. Bentley clenched his jaw and tried to stop thinking about it by trying to feed Bastian, but the little cub defiantly clamped his mouth shut and stubbornly turned his head away. Suddenly they heard steps coming from the stairs and within a matter of seconds, Lottie had returned to the others and almost tiptoed her way to the table.

"Well, welcome to the Aventine Farm, Lottie!" Lucy said with a chuckle as soon as Lottie had taken her place on the seat between Bentley and Finn.

"I-if you'd like to, you're m-more than welcome to stay on the attic. If n-not, we'll gladly see if there are a-any spare houses left" Toby said and tried his best not to stutter, but failed.

Lottie smiled and nodded thankfully. "Th-thanks, everyone..." She said carefully and looked down at her hands. "I... I never thought you'd be so... nice to me..." The last part she said even lower than usual.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Ellie said and wiped her sons face with her apron before sitting down. Bentley had actually managed to get Bastian to eat some mashed food, but at least half of it had accidentally ended up on the cubs face instead. "It's always fun with new arrivals to the farm! And it's kinda our duty to get people to feel welcome and at home here!"

"Since everythin' will just go downhill from here..." Finn mumbled lowly and stuffed some food in his mouth.

Lottie tilted her head at him with a puzzled look. "Whaddya mean by that?"

"Whaddya think I mean?" Finn said with a low growl after he swallowed. "I'm sorry to have to tell you like this, but you ended up on one of the worst plantations in Mississippi!"

"Finn, don't!" Ellie warned.

"Why not? She's probably better off knowing what she's going to be through for the rest of her life in beforehand, don'tcha think!"

"N-not necessarily for the th-the rest of her life!" Toby poked his head up from his food. "I-if the war-...!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know! But you DO know that our side is losin', right Toberon?" Finns comment made Toby look down and turn back to his food. Finn quietly glanced at Lottie again, who flinched under his gaze. "Our masters, the Aventines, will do ev'rythin' in their power to make yer life as miserable as possible, just a lil' heads up"

Lottie frowned and shook her head. "I don't believe that! Why would they do that?"

"Because they're horrible, cruel people without any sense of remorse, and they let the overseers treat us however that want, so ya better watch what you're sayin' and do, y'hear?"

She kept narrowing her eyes at him in disbelief. "I still don't believe you! Why would they treat us badly? We're the workers, and without us-...!"

"Do you think they care 'bout that?!" Finn growled and snapped his head to Bentley. "Bentley! Show her yer back! Show her how 'mild and compassionate' our masters are!"

Bentley flinched. "Huh?"

"No, Bentley! Finn, just stop it, okay?" Ellie tried to keep her voice steady, but everyone could hear anger simmer in her voice. Toby covered down over his plate and glanced up at his wife.

"No! If she won't believe me, we'll just have to show her just how bad the Aventines-...!"

"Finn! What is WRONG with you?!" Ellie snapped and stood up from her chair. "Ever since Granny Ama died...!" She started, but her brother averted his eyes at hearing the name and Ellie just couldn't go on.

Bastian jumped at his mothers angry voice and almost began to cry, but Bentley saved the situation by quickly start making funny faces at the cub, who instead began to focus on his silly uncle and giggle in amusement. Ellie gave Bentley a thankful nod and turned to her brother again, calmer this time.

"Finn, I wanna talk to ya for a bit" She said and nodded at the door after the staircase, the one leading to her and Tobys bedroom. Finn hesitated, before solemnly getting up from his chair and walk to the room, shortly followed by his little sister.

"I-it wasn't anything I did, was it?" Lottie asked nervously and bit down on her lip.

"Nah, Finn is just being an asshole, for once..." Bentley said with a slow shake of his head. He was a bit worried for Finn, though. Ever since Ama died, Finn had become more moody than ever. One minute he could be his usual happy and brotherly good-guy-self, the next he could be bitterly muttering to himself or even get into an argument and start shouting at the others! "But don't worry, he's not always like that! He's actually a pretty fun guy!" Bentley hurried to add. "Ellie too! In fact, this is only the second time I've ever seen those two fight!"

Lottie didn't say anything, she just nodded and quietly picked up her fork and knife. She poked in the food before delicately stick the fork into one tiny potato and eat it, and a happy grin spread on her face again. Bentley couldn't help but to notice how oddly she sat; her back straight, elbows in and used both knife and fork like the rich-guys would. And when he thought about it; she talked pretty funny too!

"Pardon me, but I don't think I ever caught your names" She suddenly said to Toby and Lucy, both responded by flinching and then sigh at themselves.

"Oh we're sorry" Lucy chuckled. "My name is Lucy and this is Toberon, Ellies husband, and Ellie is Finns younger sister!" She laughed at nodded at Bastian. "And the cub that's hidin' underneath all that mashed potato is Bastian, Toberon and Ellies son"

"But please, c-call me Toby. E-everyone else does!" Toby added.

Lottie nodded before turning to Bentley, smiling her careful smile and tilted her head ever-so-slightly. "And you are Bentley, right?"

Bentley nodded. "The one and only!" He said with a laugh.

"And thank god for that!" Toby mumbled which caused everyone around the table to laugh while he himself just chuckled.

Even Bentley laughed at that. And while he tried to convince get Bastian to eat some more food, instead of just trying to squish it in his hands, he noticed that Lottie was glancing at him every now and then. He was curious about her; she just seemed to so odd, for a slave that is! He knew there was something special about her, but what?

**And thus, Lottie makes her entrance! She's quite a mystery, even to myself in fact o.O...**

… **That's all ^^! See y'all again next chapter!**


	17. Freedom!

**So, I'm thinking about starting up the writing again, and I'm almost done with the first chapter of the SWG sequel Echoes of the Past, so I promise it'll be up before the week is over ;)**

**Anyway, this is a pretty long chapter, sorry 'bout that ^^"...**

***** Chapter Seventeen : Freedom! *****

**Two years later... Again!**

Bentley wiped the sweat off his forehead after he hammered the last nail into the newly built fence and took a step back. Him, Chuck and Finn had joined forces to rebuild the javelinas outdoor pen, since a tree feel straight over it during last nights storm. The sun was shining on the three now and the afternoon heat made it almost unbearable to work. Luckily, right after they finished the fence, Lottie came with mugs of water on a tray.

"Hi there, gents" She said with her usual low voice and held out the tray. "I thought you looked thirsty, fancy a drink?"

"You're a savior, y'know that, Lottie?" Finn said and instantly swiped one of the cups.

Lottie smiled and chuckled softly. "Why, thank you!"

Bentley greedily emptied his cup in a matter of seconds, there wasn't any use in saving some to splash on his neck since the water would just be completely absorbed by his mane anyway. He shot a quick glance at Chuck, and envied the wild dog for not having the same thick, warm mane as the hyenas had. Especially now when the heat was excruciating!

"Bentley, could I ask a favor of you?" Lottie said and turned to Bentley, who quickly gulped down the last of the water and nodded.

"Sure thing!"

"Can you help me to carry the big laundry basket up to the residence? Malon was supposed to help me, but her back has been acting up a lot lately and I haven't got the time to fix it yet" She bashfully averted her eyes. "I could do it myself though, it's just that it's really heavy..."

Bentley nodded again. "Sure can do! I'll just help the guys to let the hogs out into the pen first, 'kay?" Lottie did another one of her polite nods as a 'thank you' and waited until everyone had put their mugs back on the tray before she returned.

Finn turned to the two other men and pointed at the stable. "So, should we get them outta there so Bentley could go on his date soon?" He said jokingly and chuckled at the little snort Bentley did.

"Yeah, except I wouldn't call 'lendin' a hand with a heavy laundry basket' a date" The younger hyena answered with an eyeroll. He threw a look at the half-striped, half-brown hyena as she vanished amongst the houses with the tray in her hand. "Besides, we're just friends..."

"Really, Bentley?" Finn cocked an eyebrow at Bentley as they began to walk towards the stables, while Chuck opened the gate to the new pen and closed off everything else, creating a corridor from the stable to the pen. "You're SUCH a picky one, aren'tcha?"

Now it was Bentleys turn to raise an eyebrow. "Whaddya mean by that?"

"Well, first ya had the plantation owners daughter herself swoonin' over ya, but ya rejected her..."

"Hey, it wasn't like we could marry each other even if we wanted to!" Bentley mumbled and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Her dad tried to kill me when he found out that we were friends, remember? Imagine if she would've announced to him that she wanted to marry me!"

"Yeah, yeah, but now you've got Lottie after ya, ya lucky bastard!" He pointed with his thumb back where she had disappeared. "She's really taken a fancy to ya, but ya don't wanna marry her either, right?"

"You're makin' me feel very bad when ya put it like that..." Bentley glanced over his shoulder before slowly shaking his head. "I hope you're wrong, Finn, b'cause Lottie..." He paused and drew a deep sigh. "Sure, Lottie is a really sweet and special girl, and I really like her! But she just doesn't feel like... the right one... No, I don't think she's the one I'd wanna marry..."

"I don't know if you've noticed this, man, but we don't exactly have a lot to choose from here. If the Aventines would allow ya to marry someone, it would have to be another hyena like yourself" He sighed sadly and added with a low mutter: "Those bastards didn't let me and Lucy marry, y'know..."

Bentley nodded and looked down in the ground. Lucy and Finn had really grown attached to each other during the last five years since Lucy became a farmhand, but when they decided that they wanted to get married, there had been an immediate 'no' from the Aventines. Just because she was a cheetah, and he was an hyena. Guess if those two had been ticked off! But they could at least act as if they were married...

"You're forgettin' that the Aventines hate my guts and have tried to get rid off me for years now!" Bentley chuckled joylessly. "I doubt they would let me marry Lottie"

They arrived to the stables and noticed that the three javelinas were practically pressing themselves against the fence. Apparently, they had sensed that they were going to be let out. And the two hyenas had barely opened the gate until the three big hog-like creatures burst out from their little corral behind the stables, and out into the their new pen. Ecarg, Gabby and one of their daughters that the Aventines had decided to keep and that the slaves had named: Cornelis.

Finn chuckled. "Well, they seem happy at least!" And Bentley nodded in agreement. They didn't bring the previous subject up again.

…

When they were done, Bentley went to help Lottie. He offered to carry the large and much heavier laundry basket, while she carried the smaller one. As they entered through the front gate to the residence, Bentley realized that the only times he had ever been to this side was whenever someone needed help to carry something to the house. As they walked the white gravel path up to the giant three-story house, he couldn't help but to glance at Lottie who walked beside him.

Ever since she arrived to the farm two years ago, he had thought there was something funny about her and the way she talked, walked, sat, did anything in fact! And when he one day asked her, she told him that she had grown up in a smaller plantation as a houseslave. She and her sisters had been practically a part of the family and their masters had been the one who taught them table manners, how to talk properly etc. But then they realized that they were close to getting bankrupt, and had to sell most of their slaves, including Lottie and her sisters. She hadn't seen any of her sisters ever since.

And this new plantation had been so different from what she was used to! She thought the Aventines were so much crueler and unfair than what her previous masters were, and the first time she had seen Bentley and Finns backs, she had been on the verge of crying. But despite that, she didn't treat the Aventines or the overseers any differently than she treated her former masters; she was always polite and obedient, and never talked back or questioned. And that was one thing that made Bentley pissed off: the overseers had noticed that they could do anything to her, since she never did a thing to defend herself. They picked on her a lot, and laughed at her. All she could to was to say "I'm sorry", and then scurry away. If Bentley or Finn were nearby, they would stand up for her without a doubt, even if all it did was to give them more stripes to their backs. But after seeing the gratefulness on Lotties face, they both agreed that it was worth it.

But it wasn't her careful and kind nature that made her so special; Bentley had caught her sitting on the roof to his house only a few weeks after she arrived. She claimed that it was from his house that she easier could see the sun go down at night. Every dusk when the sun set, she would always be there to watch the beautiful sky turn from blue, then to pink, purple and orange until it finally reached the dark blue night. She said it was her favorite part of the day, and eventually, it became Bentleys favorite time as well. Before they head over to Granny Amas Cabin for dinner, they would always sit next to each other on his roof and watch the sunset, which of course had sparked a lot of rumors among the slaves.

The last time Bentley had remembered watching the sunset with anyone, had been back home with his father and sister. Sometimes the three of them would go to a special place their mother had shown father when she asked him to be her mate, and just watch the sun go down behind the misty jungle mountains. They used to say that it was their way of telling the Great Mother 'goodnight', and thank Her for yet another day. He had told Lottie that, and she had absolutely loved it. She loved everything he told her about his old home, since her father had been a Brown One himself, it sort of made her feel that she still had some connections to her ancestors home.

But that was just one of Lotties strange habits; sometimes if the day was stressful, she would just sit still for hours, just appearing to be sleeping. She called it 'meditation', an ancient form of relaxation.

If someone was ill or had pains, she would make that person lie down while she fetched a box of small needles, and use them to stick into the person on certain places until he or she looked like a pincushion! Apparently, her old mistress didn't believe in todays medicines and cures, and relied on this old 'acupuncture'-stuff to cure herself from headaches, stress or any illnesses. And Lottie had taken the opportunity to learn the art herself, in case it would be needed. And so far, everyone Lottie had treated with 'acupuncture' had claimed that it worked, but Bentley was still skeptical; nobody would turn him into a pincushion, no siree!

They left the laundry baskets with a couple of caracals and cheetahs who worked in the house, and was about to head back when two of the overseers, Lasher and Wilkes, exited the residence and spotted Bentley and Lucy.

"What're ya two doin' here?!" Lasher rumbled and put his hand on the whip. "Y'ain't slackin' off again are ya, hyenas?"

"Geez, don't get yer knickers in a twist, wolverine!" Bentley replied without skipping a beat. "We're workin', which seems to be more than you're doin' right now! Had a good cup o'coffe in there or what? Any pretzels on the side?"

Lasher growled, but Wilkes weakly slapped his hand on the much bigger wolverines arm. "Don't bother with him, Lash. It's not like we'll have to deal with him for much longer anyway" The weasel said, and it drew out a small smile in the corner of Lashers mouth.

Lasher was smiling. That was never good... "Huh?" Bentley said and tilted his head. Lottie shot him a worried glance, but he could just shrug in response as he was just as confused as she was. "Whaddya all mean by that?"

Wilkes and Lasher exchange glances. "Well, ya oughta find out sooner or later anyway" Wilkes said with a shrug.

"What, are Lasher and his whip finally gettin' married or somethin'?" Bentley frowned. "But what does that have to do with me? Wait, don't tell me... Am I yer best man?! Oh my gosh! Th-this is such an honor, sir!"

"You're history, hyena!" Lasher said, and the small smile grew into a sadistic smile as he took a step closer to Bentley. "The day after tomorrow, there will be no more pranks, no more humiliation..." He paused as he stopped in front of the by now taller hyena. "No more Bentley"

"Well, if you're plannin' on killin' me with yer breath, you're doin' a dang good job so far, Lash!" Bentley coughed and tried to take a step back, but the wolverines hand lashed out and grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"Unfortunately, I won't be the one gettin' the honor of killin' ya, but the coal mines will take care of that for me!" He chuckled grimly when he noticed that Bentley flinched.

"C-coal... mines?"

Lasher nodded. "That's right! The first thing they'll do is to take away yer name, instead they'll give ya a number an' chain yer feet together. Then you'll be spendin' the rest of yer days underground, diggin' an' choppin' away at rocks for day after day. In absolute darkness, you'll never see the sun y'all hyenas covet so much again!" The confused look on Bentleys face changed into worry as the big wolverine talked, feeling his heart sink even lower and lower. "An' when you're done, when you're so tired ya can hardly even breathe, they'll put a bullet in yer brain an' throw ya away. As the useless hunk of meat ya are! But dont'cha worry, hyena" Lasher showed off his sharp, rotten teeth in a wide, toothy grin. "I'll still be thinkin' of ya! I'll sit out here in the sun, watchin' yer friends an' family work themselves to death, and think of how much better ev'rythin' will be without yer smartass mouth yappin' 'bout!" Bentley clenched his jaw and didn't answer. "The day after tomorrow, they'll come for ya! Ya won't have to bother packin' anythin' with ya, b'cause ya ain't gonna be usin' anythin' but a pickaxe an' a shovel for the rest of yer miserable life!"

Bentley was quiet for a long while, before he shrugged and tried to laugh. "Oh well, look at the bright side: I won't have to see yer ugly face either! So it's a win-win situation for us both!"

"Oh why you..." Lasher growled, but didn't get to punch Bentley before Wilkes sighed and dragged him away.

Lottie and Bentley remained on the spot as they watched the two overseers head back to the fields to monitor the work there. Bentleys mouth felt dry. Apparently he would be leaving in just a couple of days... For the coal mines... He jumped slightly when Lottie carefully touched his arm.

"Forgive me, but we should head back now" She said carefully and averted her eyes when he looked down at her.

He nodded mutely and followed her back to the slaves quarters. He could tell that the news had shocked her too, as her arms seemed to be shaking and her eyes looked larger than usual. Bentley quietly looked down at the ground as he walked.

The coal mines. Nothing but darkness for the rest of his life. He probably couldn't really care less what they would be doing to him there, but he knew the one thing he wouldn't be able to handle: the darkness of the mine, and never be able to see the sun again. That thought scared him, to tell the truth. More than he would ever admit.

…

"Uncle Benky!" Bastians happy voice greeted him as soon as they stepped into Granny Amas Cabin that evening.

Bentley and Lottie had just watched the sunset on his roof as usual, and they had met up with Finn and Chuck on their way here. Since Bentley had been able to forgive Chuck for selling him and Cornelia out like that, he was slowly becoming more and more accepted back into the family again. Even if Ellie, who usually weren't the person to bear a grudge towards someone, thought he had acted wrong, and didn't look up to him as much as she used to when she was younger.

Ever since their run-in with the overseers, both Bentley and Lottie had been silent, and in her case more silent than usual. Bentley had been so silent and out of character, that Chuck and Finn questioned him when he hadn't tripped Wilkes with the pitchfork when he had the chance. But Bentley had just shrugged and then gone back to work. Lotties silence was suspicious to the others as well, but they hadn't asked her about t. It wasn't until they sat on the roof that she had began to talk, and she talked to him about the mine. She had plain just openly said that she was worried about him, and didn't want him to leave them. He managed to convince her that everything would be okay though, even if he himself was probably just as worried as she was.

He didn't want to be left to work in darkness for the rest of his life. He wanted to go back home! He wanted this war to be over, and that the side that fought for them would win! And he wanted Corny to come back! But he knew that those three things were impossible. One, he could never return home. He was stuck to work for others for the remainder of his life, stuck as a slave. Two, the last thing they had heard from the war had been over two years ago, and what they had heard then was that their side was losing. The only thing that showed the war was still going on was the soldiers who now and then would pass by on the road, and how the price on goods had skyrocketed! The Aventine Farm was lucky to be in a safe place and wasn't as affected by the war, at least not on the outside. Number three was obvious why it was impossible.

Five years of war, and five years since last time he saw Corny. And now he was finally getting sold off to a coal mine and never to see the sun again... In a way, it felt like the Aventines had won in the end. No matter how much he laughed at them! They were finally going to get rid of him, and they had make sure that he would end up on the worst place imaginable!

He didn't want to leave his family, not like that! And when Bastian came running to him and threw his short, stocky arms around his leg, Bentley felt an even stronger churn in his stomach. But he managed to hide his worry pretty well as he laughed and lifted the little cub into the air.

"Heya, squirt!" He cheerfully greeted his 'nephew'. "Has mommy finished the food yet?" Bastian nodded eagerly and giggled as he kicked with his little legs in the air. He put the cub down again, to not get kicked in mistake, and Bastian instantly grabbed Bentleys large index finger with his entire hand and dragged him along to the table.

"Hey, doesn't uncle Finn deserve a hug too?!" Finn said with an acted hurt tone in his voice and threw his arms out. Bastian gave him a thoughtful look before shaking his little head.

"No!" He said with a mischievous grin and pushed Bentley towards the chair next to his own. "Here, uncle Benky!"

"Aw, c'mon!" Finn exclaimed, and the others couldn't help but to chuckle.

"Tough luck, Finn!" Bentley grinned and sat down on the chair. "But we can't all be as awesome as HOLY MONKEY!" He yelped in pain and literally bounced up on his feet. He snapped around and looked down at his chair, spotting a sharp tack with the long, sharp end up.

Bastian began to laugh hysterically when Bentley gave him a bemused look. Ellie and Toby exchanged glances and rolled their eyes, yet they couldn't help but to smile.

"It's okay, I'm not THAT jealous!" Finn laughed and wrapped his arm around Lucys thin waist.

Bentley mimicked Finns sentence and picked the tack up between his thumb and index finger. He looked back at Bastian again, and grinned widely. "Good one, Bastian!" He chuckled and ruffled the cubs hair with his other hand. "This kid's got talent!"

"Please don't encourage him" Ellie said with a pained grimace as she put down a big pan with stew on the table. "I don't think this place could handle a second version of ya!"

"There won't be two of me for much longer anyway..." Bentley mumbled and checked for the third time that there were no more tacks on his chair before sitting down.

Toby heard him and frowned. "W-whaddya mean by that?"

Bentley hesitated and felt Lottie turn her head to him. "Nothin'..." He answered and returned the concerned frown Lottie gave him. He knew she wanted him to tell everyone, and he would! But he just wanted to wait until they had put Bastian to bed first.

…

It got late, and Ellie decided that it was best for Bastian to go to sleep, and while she was busy trying to convince her hyperactive three year-old that sleep was a good thing, Bentley told them what would happen the day after tomorrow. Everyone around the table, except for Chuck, had responded with silently staring at him, not sure if it was another one of his pranks or not. They were quiet even as Ellie returned.

"Okay, what did I miss?" She asked when she saw how quietly everyone was staring at Bentley.

"He's been sold" Chuck was the one who answered, his flat answer made Ellie flinch.

"Wh-what?" She stuttered.

Bentley nodded. "To the mines... They didn't tell me what company though, but it doesn't really matter, does it?" He looked up from the table he silently had been staring at since he broke it to everyone. "And they're comin' to get me in two days... I just thought it would be better to tell y'all now..."

"Wh-who told ya that?" Ellies slowly shook her head in disbelief.

"We met Lasher and Wilkes by the big house earlier t'day, they told me ev'rythin'"

"They're probably lyin'!" Finn snorted and folded his powerful arms. "We all know how much those two hates yer guts, they probably just said that to scare ya!"

"No" It was Lotties turn to talk, and she shook her head. "They were not lying. I could tell they were speaking the truth!" Now that was another thing with Lottie that freaked Bentley out a bit; it was nearly impossible to lie to her. She could see through a persons lie even before they said it!

Bentley slowly stood up from the table and chuckled lowly. "Uh, I gotta go home now... Really tired, y'know" He said and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll, errm, I'll see y'all tomorrow!" Sure, he WAS tired as heck so it wasn't a complete lie, but he didn't want to talk more about this subject. He had told them, they knew and now he just wanted to be alone. But as he said 'goodnight' to them, Lottie stood up and asked to follow him home, since they were practically neighbors. Bentley hesitated before nodding mutely and together, the two hyenas left Granny Amas Cabin.

They had almost reached Lotties little shack when she suddenly, but carefully, took his hand and looked up at him. He had been so deep into his thoughts that he jumped in surprise and glanced down at her. "L-Lottie?"

"It's okay to be sad, you know..." She said lowly before turning her attention back to the path they were walking on. "There's no shame in crying, even if you're a guy"

He chortled out a laugh. "What'cha talkin' 'bout, Lottie? I ain't sad! At least not sad enough to start cryin'!" He ignored her skeptically raised eyebrow and added: "I ain't exactly lookin' forward to be sold off to someplace like a mine, but I ain't sad! I hate bein' sad!"

"I don't like to be sad either, Bentley. But you shouldn't keep feelings like that locked up inside you! It's anything but good!" She said and he noticed that a shudder went through her body, almost as if something made her scared just to think about it. "It doesn't just hurt more if you keep bad feelings like that inside you, it might also-...!"

"Damnit, Lottie, I AIN'T sad!" Bentley suddenly growled loudly and flattened his ears to his neck, causing her to flinch and let go of his hand. "Oh shit, I-I'm sorry, Lottie!" He hurried to apologize when he saw how startled she got. "I-I didn't mean to shout like that, honest! It just... I just...!"

She sighed sadly and shook her head. "See?" She said, but he blinked in confusion.

"See what?"

She shook her head again. "Nothing..."

They had arrived by her little shack, where Ellie had lived when she moved out from the little house her and Finn shared when they were younger. But after she bid him goodnight, she hurried to give him a quick peck on the cheek and smile at him, before scurrying inside her home. He stood still for a few beats, confused, before shrugging and head for his home. His stomach still churned when he thought about his soon-to-be new home. Maybe Lottie was right? Maybe he was more than just worried, what if he was sad as well? He actually felt tears burn behind his eyelids, but he hurried to wipe them away with his sleeve. He really didn't want to leave his new family! But it wasn't like he had much choice; his master had sold him, and no crying in the world would change that!

…

Ellie stood in the kitchen long after everyone had left. Everyones mood had definitely flown out the window after hearing the news, and they had all decided to follow Bentleys example.

While Ellie was doing the dishes before getting to bed, she couldn't stop thinking about the day when Bentley would be leaving them. She still remembered the day he came to them as clear as it had been yesterday. She still remembered the happy surprise she got when she ran to greet Chuck, and noticed the little cub still being tied the wagon. He had been so small, so shy and so scared of everything and everyone. He had become like their entire groups little brother, and he still was! But now, their master had sold him, and they would never see him again.

She covered her mouth with one of her hands and leaned over the dishes as her eyes began to tear up. This wasn't right! Bentley was a good worker! Sure sometimes he could be a real pain in the neck to the overseers, but even if he questioned their orders, he would still follow them! The only real reason they wanted to get rid of him was because they blamed him for Cornelias fate! She knew both Cornelias and Granny Amas deaths pained him and that he already blamed himself for them, so for the Aventines to keep doing this to hurt him was just wrong! They might be nothing more but slaves, but they were persons as well! They had feelings! And Cornelia had been the only one to understand that, and they sent her away for defending the ones who wasn't even allowed to defend themselves!

Ellie clenched her fist. She had always been a calm person, but the Aventines made her angry! And frustrated, since there was nothing she could do about it!

"E-Ellie...?" She turned around when she heard Tobys voice behind her, and saw him stand in the doorway to the kitchen with a worried frown on his face. "I-is everythin' alright?"

Ellie bit her lip and shook her head. "No!" She said with a thick voice and leaned back against the kitchen counter. "Th-they're gonna sell Bentley! OUR Bentley!" She covered her mouth again as a loud sob escape. "This isn't right! Wh-why... Why are the Aventines so... So... So unfair?!" She looked up at Toby as he opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it and shook his head instead.

"I-I dunno..." He said quietly after a while and averted his eyes. "I still c-can't believe it..."

"Sure, h-he might not be like everyone else, b-but it's not like he's a danger to anyone!" She couldn't hold back the sobs anymore. "Th-they can't just sell him b'cause they themselves did a mistake! It's THEIR fault that Cornelia died! N-not Bentley! H-he was just her f-friend!"

Toby silently walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest and wept silently. While he calmly stroked her spiky, black mane with his hand, he kept his eyes closed and tried to not think too much about it all. He still hadn't been able to process it: Bentley would soon be gone from the farm... Forever!

Suddenly a very frightening thought appeared in his head and he tensed up. What about Bastian? What if the Aventines one day decided to sell Bastian as well?

…

"THEY WON! THEY WON!"

Everyone on the fields flinched and looked up when Torak, one of the cheetahs who worked in the house, came running out from the residence and wildly flailed his arms around. Bentleys ears curiously swiveled forward. _They won?_

"THEY WON!" Torak repeated and did a happy whooping sound as he jumped over the fence to the fields with the agility and speed only a cheetah possessed. "I just heard the news! We're free, ev'ryone! FREE!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and just stared at him, panting heavily from his run. They exchanged puzzled glances, not knowing what to think. What if it just was a cruel joke from the Aventines? Torak seemed pretty excited, but it was just too good to be true! It HAD to be a joke!

But it wasn't a joke. It was the truth. And those happy news spread faster than anything had ever done among the slaves. The feeling to just be able to toss their tools to the side and ignore the overseers and their whips was better than anything they had ever felt before. They were free. They were finally free! And Bentley was relieved: no mines for him! Now after many years, he would finally go home!

Later that day, everyone was celebrating outside Granny Amas Cabin. Music was provided by the ones who had learned to play instruments like guitars and violins, and it all mixed together with the ex-slaves cheerful laughter and dancing. Bastian and the few other children on the farm were happily playing together, for once free from having to worry about getting caught by the overseers. Nothing they had ever celebrated before would ever compare to this! Because now they, and millions of others, were free!

Suddenly the music died off when a bunch of familiar faces stepped through the crowd of celebrating slaves and everything went silent. It was Mr Aventine and a handful of the overseers. He walked through the crowd with a determined look on his face, straight for the porch of Granny Amas Cabin. The overseers waited down below as he walked up on the porch and turned to the slaves, they all looked at their old master with flat faces. Everyone wondered what he had to say for himself.

He was quiet for a while, as if he was searching for what to say. "Well, I guess I have to say congratulations!" He said, without as much as a tint of happiness in either his voice or his face. "But now what?" He saw that it caused the slaves to mumble amongst themselves and exchange confused looks. "Now we're are ya gonna go? It's not like ya can just go anywhere and build a house and a new life from scratch. Not without money, that is. You won't come far! Hell, the outside world is even harsher than me! Everyone and everything will run you over without mercy, and spit you out dead before anyone can blink!"

The slaves exchanged more glances. He was right.

"Therefore, I've got a preposition for y'all!" He cleared his throat and stood up straighter. "I'll let all of you stay here and work for payment. No need for any overseers!" He muttered bitterly. "You're all free now, after all..."

"Where's the catch?" Someone from the crowd asked, and got the others to murmur in agreement.

"No catch!" Mr Aventine replied. "Y'all will be allowed to stay here with yer families, work and get paid for it this time"

A suspicious murmur went through the crowd. It all seemed a bit too good to be true, coming from the Aventines. But it wasn't like they had much choice; neither of them had any money what so ever, many hardly even owned the clothes on their bodies! Most of them decided to accept the offer Mr Aventine came with. But as they mumbled and decided amongst themselves, Bentley emerged out of the crowd. Mr Aventine saw him and narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything as the hyena walked up on the porch by his side.

"Well, since I'm not gonna linger here in this place, I'd better bid you farewell!" Bentley had a confident grin on his face as he extended his hand for the mountain lion to shake. Gabriel cautiously accepted it, still without saying a word. "Thanks for the run, it's been fun, haven't it?" He said, and this time he got a bitter and incoherent mumble from Gabriel. "Though I've got this naggin' feelin' in the back of my head that I've forgotten somethin'..." Bentley continued and thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "I've got a feelin' I owe ya somethin'... Wait, I remember!" He shone up and snapped his fingers, before growling lowly and ball his hand into a fist.

Before the older mountain lion had any time to prepare for the impact, Bentley rammed his fist as hard as he could into his face. Stars danced in front of Mr Aventines eyes as the hyenas fist collided with his jaw, jolting his head back and sending him staggering, before he tripped backwards over the porchs stairs and landed on the hard ground. He slowly regained his bearings and wiped away a thin stream of blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Do ya have any idea how long I've been wantin' to do that, Master Aventine?" Bentley growled and spitefully spat out the name. "That was for never listenin' to Cornelia!"

The ex-slaves and the overseers stared at Bentley, speechless. But at least Mr Aventine let out a low growl as he got up on his feet again.

"Do ya know why she came here, even if y'all told her not to? Do ya know why she wanted to meet me in the first place? Do ya know why she hated yer guts, even if y'all were her real family?" Bentley continued to growl and walked down the stairs and towards his old master. "B'cause ya never listened to her! No one ever respected her the same way she was expected to respect ev'ryone else. All she wanted was someone who'd listen to her, a friend! Just a shame that the only people in world she felt that she could trust was a pair of slaves; a mangy hyena and a cheetah, ain't it?" He stopped when he were just inches away from the slightly shorter mountain lion and bared his fangs in a snarl. "You were her parents! You were supposed to be the most important people in her life, but ya hardly even knew her! Instead y'all chose to neglect her identity and just assume that she was just like everyone else. But she wasn't, she was special!" He paused while he let the words sink into Mr Aventines brain, if they even did; Mr Aventine had an unchangeable frown splayed on his face. "You put up all these rules to protect her, but from what? Or who? You know we'd never hurt her, no matter how much we hated yer guts, but why were we never allowed to as much as to look at her? And you've told her even since she was little that we were dangerous, don't deny it b'cause she told me that herself! But was it really to protect her that you wanted to trap her inside yer home? Or was it b'cause ya were afraid that what the other fancy-pants would say if she would turn to us, and see us as a part of her family and friends?"

For the first time, Gabriels expression changed slightly to shock and he took a step back. "Wh-what?" But then he growled angrily again. "How dare you to even talk 'bout us that way? Are you blamin' US for what happened to her?!"

"No..." Bentley averted his eyes for a moment. "It IS my fault what happened to her. I'm sorry, I really am! And if I had known then that my friendship with her would eventually cause her death, I wouldn't have accepted it in the first place..." He turned his head back up at the mountain lion and locked eyecontact with the familiar sea-green eyes. "But I'm not apologizin' for bein' her friend, and for listenin' to her! And if I am to be honest with ya here, I'm pretty sure that she would much rather be dead than like the likes of you!"

Everyone went silent for a long time, only the chirp of the crickets were heard as Mr Aventine and Bentley had a staredown. Both looked like they tried to kill each other with their eyes. But after a while, Gabriel let out a low growl and turned his back to the hyena and marched out of the slaves quarters with the overseers shortly behind. When they had left, the applauses began.

…

Bentley spent a few days hanging around the farm. Everyone now had time to tend to their homes, and some had fixed up their houses and shacks pretty nicely. But Bentley knew he couldn't stay. He also knew that he couldn't just go to the nearest port and jump on the closest ship back to Africa.

But he didn't want to stay in this place more than necessary so he quickly packed his few belongings, including Cornys notebook and the little doll he got from granny Ama, before telling everyone that he was leaving, for real this time. Even if some of the goodbyes were more heartripping than others, he still didn't change his mind about leaving. And even if Bastian became completely hysterical when he realized that his uncle Bentley would leave.

"Don't worry, little guy" Bentley had told the little cub who clung to his leg and cried loudly. "B'cause ya know what? I've got a feelin' that we'll meet again, someday!" After a lot of promising, Bastian eventually stopped sobbing and let his uncle go.

Bentley gave his family a nod, ruffled little Bastians hair one last time and turned around. He hadn't seen Lottie anywhere yet, but as soon as he stepped out on the road, he heard her call his name. He stopped and turned around as he saw her come running towards him. Just like him, she had a satchel with food and her belongings on her back.

"Please take me with you!" She had pleaded before he even got to open his mouth. "I-I wanna travel, and see things with you! Please, Bentley, I won't get in your way!"

"Y'know, I'm just gonna go see if there's any way for me to go back home-..."

"And that's where I wanna go too!" She turned her eyes down to the ground and closed them. "All my life, I've only heard about the place we come from, but I've never seen it with my own eyes. Just like you and Finn, I want to go back to home! Back to Africa!" She looked up at him again, her large, light blue eyes were almost getting all teared up. "Please, Bentley! Take me with you!"

Bentley pondered for a while, but then he beamed and nodded. "Well, since you're askin' so nicely!" He had barely finished the sentence until Lottie had thrown herself at him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Th-thank you!" She sobbed happily, and he laughed and hugged her back in response.

But as the two hyenas were seen leaving the farm, a shadow moved in the window on the residence. The big house seemed deserted now when most of the houseslaves had decided to stay and work alongside the others, and the only room that was lit was the study, where the Lasher, Wilkes and Gabriel were. Gabriel sat behind his desk and looked at the two now unemployed ex-overseers. He had seen Bentley and Lottie leave the farm, and got an idea.

He had regretted buying that slave as a cub for years now, and just the fact that he was impossible to get rid of didn't exactly improve his feelings towards the hyena. And now when he was finally going to make sure that he suffered for the rest of his life, well what happens? They are declared free. But he wasn't going to let Bentley get away with everything he had done and said.

"Do you two know where I can find Connor Maddoc?" He asked after being silent for a while.

"Y-you mean the Catcher?" Wilkes asked, and when Mr Aventine nodded, the weasel hurried to shake his head. "I'm sorry sir, but I don't... All I've heard is that all the Catchers now are headin' south!"

But Lasher grinned faintly. "Connor Maddoc? Crazy-Con? I think I might know where he is actually" The wolverine said, and got a surprised look from Wilkes. "Last time I heard, he was hangin' out down at the Blue Dime saloon downtown. What do ya want with him?"

"I've got a job for him, y'two saw that Bentley left, right?" Gabriel said, and his two old overseers nodded slowly. "And I know he's been a pain in the ass to the both of you, hell, he's been a pain to us all!" Lasher angrily gritted his teeth while Wilkes nodded again. Gabriel grinned grimly and leaned over the desk on his elbows. "How would y'two like it if I hired this 'Crazy-Con', to take care of our lil' hyena friend, hm?"

Wilkes didn't budge while Lasher grinned widely. "We'll go git him at once, boss!"

**Da-da-dumm!**

**Anyways, see y'all next chapter again ;)! And I hope I'll see ya in Echoes of the Past! Keep your eyes peeled: first chapter is almost done ;)**


	18. The Baxters

**And we're back :P! I think this might end up on more than twenty chapters anyway :I... Damn his story is a long one... But this is a relatively short chapter though ^^**

***** Chapter Eighteen : The Baxters *****

The birds were singing, the sun was slowly rising to warm the Earth down below it and from far away, a rivers steady flow was heard. Bentley opened his eyes and inhaled the fresh scent of the forest around them. Lottie had chosen the perfect spot to camp; in a clearing of the lush, green woods they had been traveling through for the last couple of days.

He scooted up into an upright, sitting position and stretched his back. Lottie was still sleeping curled up on her side next to him, so he moved carefully to not wake her up. He got up and headed for the river, while there he kneeled down to drink and wash his face. He spotted his own reflection in the stirring surface and frowned. He was starting to get a beard and his hair had grown long enough to fall over his eyes every now and then, but too bad Ellie wasn't around to give him a haircut. He started rubbing his chin and tried to imagine how he would look in a goatee when he heard steps behind him, but he didn't need to turn around to hear it was Lottie.

"G'mornin'" He said when she came up to his side, and she replied with a quiet nod before she kneeled down as well. She scooped up some water in her palms and drank, while he hastily looked around the area. "So, what's the plans for t'day? Should we follow the river upstream, or just go somewhere else and hope for the best?"

She shrugged. "It sounds safer if we follow the river..." She looked around as well. "But I do like the woods here! Everything is so harmonic and peaceful!"

Bentley grimaced and looked down in the river again. He did not agree on that; halfway during the night he had been kept awake by an owl, who sat in the tree right above them and talked with his imaginary friend. And when he did the mistake to ask the owl to be more quiet or to move to another tree, the owl began to rant away about the youth today and how everything was different when he was young and how much longer he had lived in that tree before they came here etc. Eventually Bentley had just given up and tried to stuff moss in his ears to keep the owls annoying voice out.

Suddenly a guttural, growling sound was heard from Bentleys stomach and Lottie tilted her head at him and began to giggle. "Maybe we should eat something first, and THEN wonder were we'll go?"

Bentley rubbed his complaining belly and grinned faintly. "Sounds like a plan to me!"

They went back to the clearing and began to rummage through their satchels for something to eat, and came up with a pair of wrinkly apples and a piece of bread each. They had packed food when they left the Aventine Farm, but it was starting to run out. The plan was to reach a town and get a job BEFORE they ran out of food completely!

Lottie fetched some water from the river, made a fire and boiled some dried herbs into tea. She always drank this strange tea. "It cleanses your body and relaxes your soul", she used to say. Bentley was very suspicious to this 'tea' thing, but she managed to convince him to taste a few sips. He wasn't impressed by the spicy and slightly bitter tasting warm water, but he got himself to empty his cup for her sake. No, he was more of a coffee person, whenever he managed to get his hands on coffee that is. Besides, the whole 'body cleansing' and 'soul-relaxing' thingy seemed a bit too fuzzy for his taste!

They had just finished their meal when a loud yell was heard from the river. They both stopped what they were doing and just listened, exchanging confused looks. When the yell was heard a second time Bentley got up and ran towards the river. Lottie quickly stuffed their things back into the satchels, got up and followed him. They had to run for a while upstream before they found the source of the strange shouts; a big, rodent like creature with a huge, flat tail was standing in the middle of the waist-high river with a fishing rod, and whatever was on the other end of the rod was giving him one hell of a fight! The two hyenas stopped by the shore and stared at the man, not sure what to do. And apparently, he noticed them because he suddenly turned his head to them and nearly fell back into the water by a strong tug from the fish.

"Y'know, some help would be appreciated!" He hollered before going back to try to reel in the struggling fish.

Lottie didn't hesitate; she handed the satchels to Bentley before jumping into the water. Her skirt instantly got heavy from all the water, but she didn't care as she made her way through the waist-high water to help the stranger. Bentley looked down at the satchels before putting them down on the ground and go help.

While Bentley and the stranger joined forces to reel in the huge fish, Lottie held out the net, ready to catch it. The fish was a trout, about the size of Bentleys lower arm, and it struggled even as they managed to trap it in the net, and the big rodent let out a victorious whoop.

"HALLELUJAH! Caught ya again, Wilbur!" He laughed and patted Bentley on the shoulder. "Couldn't have done it without ya, kids! Thanks!"

Bentley and Lottie nodded, panting heavily. "W-wait, again?" Bentley frowned, and stared in disbelief as the rodent laughed one more time and then let the fish go. "W-what? Why...?"

"That, my friends, was Wilbur!" The rodent laughed and signed for them to follow him back up on the shore. Bentley and Lotte exchanged bewildered looks before returning to the shore. "Wilbur is a really old friend of mine! He's a real sly devil, but every once in a while I DO get him on the hook and when I do, hooo, he ain't happy 'bout it!" He took of the fishing hat of his head to wipe his brow before putting it back on and turn to the two hyenas. "Why look at you two! You're soaked to the bone!"

Bentley couldn't stop staring at the stranger, who just let a fish go after struggling like a madman and almost get himself drowned to catch it. He shuddered when a breeze swept through, and make him shiver in his wet clothes. He glanced at Lottie and noticed that she was already shivering and freezing as well.

"I know, as a little 'thanks-for-the-help', whaddya say 'bout coming with me home, get yourself dried up and have yourself a bite to eat, eh? My wife is an amazing cook!"

Bentley frowned suspiciously, but Lottie smiled thankfully and nodded. "W-we would very much appreciate that, s-sir!"

Bentley glanced from Lottie to the stranger. He seemed a bit too nice, Bentley thought. He knew how the people were in this new world, and he could swear that this man had something up his sleeve, but not Lottie. She seemed to trust him, and when she noticed Bentleys suspicious look, she nudged his arm and gave him a reassuring smile. Bentley wasn't all too convinced that this man really was as nice as he appeared to be, but still followed him and Lottie to his home further up the river.

"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself!" He said while they were following the river. "My name is Elmer! Elmer Baxter!" He exchanged his hand, and Lottie instantly took it.

"My name is Lottie" She said and nodded at Bentley. "And this is my friend Bentley"

"Bentley and Lottie, huh?" Elmer tipped his hat. "Well, thanks again for the help with Wilbur!"

Lottie smiled and nodded once again. "You're welcome, Mr Baxter!"

Elmer was a beaver, and the outside his home looked just like a big pile of sticks right beside a dam, but as soon as they stepped inside, the two hyenas were surprised over how spacious and cozy everything was: the huge room they entered had a dining table and kitchen to the right, and living room with a fireplace by the furthest wall. To the left there was a stair leading to the bottom floor, and probably where the bedrooms were as they didn't see a single door or bed on this floor.

A female beaver stood by the stove and stirred in a big pot when they came in, and her eyes instantly narrowed at her husband. "And where have YOU been all morning?!" She asked and angrily stirred even faster in the pot. "No, let me guess: ya tried to catch that Wilbur again?!"

"Of course!" Elmer snorted in reply and hung his drenched fishing hat on a hook on the wall. "I promised him I'd see him every Saturday and the day I'll let down a friend will be the day the sun goes out!"

His wife let out an annoyed growl and was about to turn back to the pot just as she noticed the two hyenas, shivering in their cold, wet clothes but still curiously looking around. "Gosh!" She gasped and left the stove to run up to them. Bentley took a cautious step back from the approaching beaver, but Lottie only turned her head in curiosity. "What's happened to you two, dears?! You're shivering more than a..." Her voice trailed off and she narrowed her eyes at Elmer again.

"These two brave youngsters helped me catch Wilbur! Never would've done it without 'em!" Elmer beamed and dunked his hand on Bentleys back, making Bentley wince slightly when one of the week-old lashes was ripped up by the sudden brotherly punch.

"Wilbur...! Oh I oughta catch that thing myself so we finally get this over with!" His wife snarled and pushed the two hyenas towards the fireplace. "Now, I'm really sorry you two that my husband made you two look like you've drowned yourselves! I'll get you some dry clothes and warm blankets and supper will be done shortly!"

Lottie nodded. "Th-thank you, Mrs Baxter..."

"Vivian, but please just call me Viv. 'Mrs Baxter' makes me feel so old!"

…

Not many minutes later, Bentley and Lottie was sitting in front of the fireplace. She had borrowed an old dress from Vivian and Bentley was wearing an pair of Elmers old clothes, while their own clothes were strung up in front of the fireplace to dry. Both had blankets wrapped around their still freezing bodies and a bowl of the shrimp and mushroom stew Vivian had been cooking in their hands. Bentley had to admit; these people didn't seem so bad! But he didn't want to trust them just yet. But Lottie did, and she had already told them that they had been slaves on the Aventine Farm, which definitely earned them the Baxters sympathy.

"So, Bentley and Lottie, huh?" Vivian said as she sat in an armchair by the fireplace and knitted on something that looked like it was going to be a scarf. "Where are you two headed, if I may ask?"

Bentley didn't answer, but Lottie put down the spoon in the bowl as she answered the beaver: "Well, now we're just roaming around. We hope to find someplace where we can get a job and earn some money so we finally can go home."

"Home?"

"Yeah, to Africa" She looked at Bentley and smiled when he looked back up at her with a confused look. "That's where Bentley comes from. He's told me everything!"

"Really?" Vivian curiously looked at the male hyena. "How come ya ended up here then, darl?"

He averted his eyes and stared down at the stew in his hands. "I... I don't wanna talk 'bout it..." He mumbled and gulped down a spoonful of the stew.

"Oh, it's alright, ya can tell me-...!"

"Viv, leave the boy alone" Elmer said. He was sitting by the dining table and puffed on a pipe. "If he doesn't wanna talk 'bout it there's gotta be a dang good reason for it"

Lottie gave Bentley a worried frown and gently put her hand on his arm. She had heard his story a long time ago, and she didn't seem to want to hear it again. Vivian sighed and went back to her knitting.

"I'm sorry, darl. I'm just curious by nature!"

Suddenly the door opened and two smaller figures rushed in. "Dad, dad!" They shouted and ran up to their father. Both were young beavers, the boy didn't seem to be older than twelve while the girl looked to be around seven-eight years old, and they were both carrying a ring with caught fishes.

"Look what I caught!" The girl said and proudly help up her ring, which held a lot more fishes than the boys. "Felix helped me to catch these! And I caught more than him!"  
"Well, I'm not complaining; mine are bigger!" The boy, apparently Felix, said and held up his ring; his fishes were indeed larger than hers.

Elmer laughed and nodded approvingly at the two childrens catches. "Not bad, not bad!" He said with a chuckle. "I told ya they would be master fishermen like their old man, didn't I, Viv?" He cocked his head at his wife, who only smiled and shook her head before continuing to knit.

Suddenly Felix noticed the two hyenas and frowned suspiciously. "Dad, who're those two?"

"Hm?" Elmer said and noticed that his son was referring to Bentley and Lottie, and grinned. "Oh those two are friends of mine! They helped me to catch Wilbur today!"

"Wow! Ya caught Wilbur today, dad?!" The little girl exclaimed enthusiastically and leaned closer to her dad, while her brother and mother rolled their eyes.

"I sure did, Ida!" He ruffled the little girls short, brown hair and grinned. "And I would never have done it if Bentley and Lottie over there hadn't jumped in to help me!"

Bentley and Lottie exchanged faint smiles. Apparently, Elmers gratitude WAS genuine, to Bentleys surprise.

Suddenly Elmer looked like he got an idea and he hollered to get the hyenas attention. "Hey, ya two said ya were lookin' for work, right?"

Lottie beamed and nodded. "Yes, that's right!"

"Well, I've got some things I might need an extra hand with, are ya up for it? I'll be sure to pay y'all too!"

Lottie and Bentley nodded in unison, even if Bentley still was a bit hesitant to trust this stranger.

Vivian muttered and rolled her eyes again. "Now, you're just gonna make 'em do those things YOU were supposed to do last month, aren't ya?"

Mr Baxter grinned sheepishly. "Well, at least they'll be done now! Doesn't really matter by who, does it?"

…

Lottie and Bentley stayed a couple of days with the Baxters, helping them to work on their dam, fix leaks etc, and Bentleys suspicion vanished almost completely overnight, since he discovered that the Baxters indeed WERE good people! They were funny, friendly and best of all: him and Elmer had the same sense of humor. Their kids, Ida and Felix, had quickly taken a liking to Bentley, while Viv and Lottie became friends, and she was often seen helping Mrs Baxter out in the kitchen. Lottie also took the opportunity to show Vivian some things that could help her through a stressful day, like meditation, special tea and all that stuff that was so typical Lottie.

And one night when Bentley and Elmer returned to the house to call it a day and eat supper, Bentley was met with one of the most delicious scents he had ever felt. In fact, he stopped in the doorway just to sniff the air before he curiously turned to the two women handing out plates on the table. He quickly sat down on a chair and shortly after they put down the supper, which for Bentley was quite anticlimactic to see it was just a plate with a bunch of golden brown, flat discs made from some kind of batter. But they smelled soooo good! He curiously poked on one of them with his fork.

"Do ya like pancakes, Bentley?" Vivian asked with an amused tone in her voice, and Bentley raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

"Pancakes?"

"I don't think he has ever tasted pancakes before, Viv" Lottie said and sat down next to Bentley. "I know you'll like this, Bentley!" She added with a wink at him as he slowly placed one of the 'pancakes' on his plate.

He was about to put a piece in his mouth when Ida interjected and pushed a little jar with strawberry jam to him. "Here! It'll taste a lot better with this!" She said and her mouth was all red with jam.

He was just about to reach for the jar when Felix pushed a glass bottle to him instead. "No! Take syrup! It's a LOT better!"

Confused, Bentley looked from the bottle to the jar. But then he shrugged and added both of the things to his pancake, to the childrens great joy. And it was delicious. The single best thing Bentley had ever tasted in his entire life. And he stuffed himself with pancake after pancake, until he suddenly got an idea.

"Hey! Now I know why they're called pancakes!" He said and first he took a pancake, smeared jam all over the surface and added another one, doing the same thing but with syrup. On the third pancake, he reached for the bowl with whipped cream that Viv liked to have on hers and slapped some of it onto his pile of pancakes. He grinned and gestured at the pile with both of his hands."Look! It's a cake! A panCAKE!"

He and Elmer looked at each other before they burst out into laughter, and the children also began to laugh at Bentleys bad joke. Viv sighed and tilted her head at Lottie. "Y'know, your boyfriend is a real oddball sometimes!"

Lottie blushed and looked down at her plate, which she had managed to keep spotless despite having jam to her pancakes. "H-he's not my boyfriend, Viv" She said lowly. "He's just my friend..."

"But ya wish he was, don'tcha?" Viv raised an eyebrow. Luckily, Bentley and the others were laughing too hard to hear what Viv said, so Lottie hesitated before nodding silently.

Mr Baxter hadn't been kidding around when he said that his wife was an amazing cook: everyday, several times a day, she and Lottie would together cook up a masterpiece. Bentley had NO idea that food could taste like that! And sometimes, she would even surprise them with desserts! So far, Bentleys favorite had been the raspberry and apple cake, made from wild raspberries and apples that Mrs Baxter and Lottie had picked the day before. He knew that whenever he and Lottie left again, he would miss Mrs Baxters cooking. He would miss it a LOT!

They earned quite a lot of money by working for the Baxters, but when they were starting to get enough money to continue on their way, both Bentley and Lottie felt torn. They had really come to like the Baxters, and a part of them didn't want to leave this little family, but they both really wanted to return to the jungles as well, which they called their true home.

…

A couple of days later, Bentley and the two kids were heading out to fish. Elmer would have come along too, if he hadn't fallen down from the roof the day before and injured his leg. He didn't mind the children going out fishing alone with Bentley, what DID worry him though was that he might not be able to make his weekly visit to Wilbur.

Ida and Felix showed the way to the best fishing pond, about a twenty minutes walk away, but just as they got there, a shady looking trio rode up to the Baxters dam. Lottie and Vivian were sitting by the dining table and stitched on a patchwork quilt while talking about tea and healing herbs. Elmer was sitting in his armchair by the fireplace with his pipe in the corner of his mouth and tried to block out the womens infernal chattering. When three rapid knocks were heard on the door the women became quiet.

"Gosh, who could it be?" Vivian thought out loud to herself and curiously cocked her head to the side. They didn't get many visitors out here. "Lottie, could ya be a darl and answer the door for me?"

Lottie nodded and put her sewing equipment down. She got up and walked towards the door, but the closer she got, the more she felt an ominous feeling crawl its way along her spine. But she still opened the door, and when she did, she found herself face to face with a tall, dark lizard of some kind. She gasped in fright and took a step back, but it wasn't the cold storm gray eyes, or the grim grin on his face that scared her. Neither was it the long scar straight across his face, nor the two men behind him; a weasel dressed like an indian and a dark brown rabbit, but it was the sense of pure evil surrounding the men. She could see the aura of evil around the lizard, and it was pitch black. This man wasn't the type you'd turn your back to.

"Sorry I startled you, Miss..." The lizard chuckled and leaned his shoulder against the doorframe as he lit a cigaret.

"C-can we h-help you, gentlemen?" Lottie stuttered in her low voice and averted her eyes. She couldn't even stand to look at the evil.

"As a matter of fact, yes..." He paused and shook the match he had used to light the cig to put it out and grinned down at the female hyena. "I'm Connor, Connor Maddoc. Me and my friends are looking for someone; a brown hyena, male, quite tall; well over six feet five, red eyes, laugh a lot, really annoying..." He paused again and blew out a cloud of smoke, causing her to cough and cover her mouth to not breathe it in. "Sounds familiar?"

"We're sorry sir, but we haven't even seen a fellow like your friend there" Vivian showed up by Lotties side, she didn't like this stranger either. The beaver lady grabbed the door and prepared to slam it shut.

"Really?" The lizard blinked in played confusion. "That's odd, seeing as he's traveling with none other than the little Miss over there!" He grinned even wider and pointed at Lottie with his cigaret.

Lottie flinched, and then looked away. "I-I think you're mistaken, sir..."

"And I think you're lying" Connor growled lowly, but just as Vivian closed the door, the lizard stuck his foot in the doorway and stopped the door. He flung the door open, and the two women yelped and backed away while Elmer looked around for his rifle.

Connor and his men stepped inside and drew their guns. "We KNOW he's here! And we can do this either the easy way or the hard way! It's your choice!" He glanced at the side just as Elmer reached for a rifle that hung on the wall and aimed his revolver. "The hard way it is then..."

… **Yup, 'Crazy-Con' got his nickname for a reason... DUN DUN DUUUUN!**

**Anyway, see y'all next chapter ;)! **


	19. Crazy-Con the Catcher

**Just gonna throw this one out here and hurry up to finish the next EOTP chapter before we're off to our annual trip to Michigan! Gonna miss y'all :P!**

**Anyway, onto the next chapter!**

***** Chapter Nineteen : Crazy-Con The Catcher *****

Bentley and the kids had been fishing down by the pond for a couple of hours when they decided to call it quits and head back home. Their fishing round had been quite successful, even Bentley had managed to capture a bunch of fishes on his own! Now, they couldn't wait to get home to see what kind of culinary masterpiece Mrs Baxter would cook up with the fishes this time!

But as they got closer to the house, which looked more like a pile of sticks, he couldn't help but to notice how dark everything seemed and when he saw that the door had been kicked off one of it's hinges, his heart skipped a beat. He quickly handed his ring with fishes to Felix. "Y'two stay here, okay? DON'T follow me!" He said, turned around and bolted for the house. But when Felix hollered an alarmed "why?" after him, he didn't respond.

Inside the house was dark, darker than usual and he instantly noticed the mess; furniture was tipped over, a vase with flower had been crashed, but it took a while for him to notice the silhouettes of bodies, lying sprawled on the floor. He walked closer, and what he saw made his stomach churn and the entire world spin underneath his feet; Mr Baxter was lying face down in front of the fireplace with multiple bullet holes in his back, his own rifle was just an armslength away. Mrs Baxter lied sprawled on her back in the kitchen, blood had been oozing out of a big wound on the side of her head. Neither of them was moving, and both were lying in a pool of their own blood. He choked back a scream and ran up to them, and could to his horror confirm that they had both died. No, they had been murdered!

"M-mom...? Dad?" Ida suddenly appeared in the doorway, and her eyes grew wide and teary at the sight of her parents.

"No..." Bentley stood up from kneeling by Mr Baxters side and waved at the little girl. "Ida, don't...!"

"MOM! DAD!" Ida screamed and lunged for her mother, but Bentley stopped her in her tracks. "MOOM! DAAD! NO!" She cried out loud, tears running down her face, but Bentley picked her up and carried her to the door, where Felix now where standing, just as wide-eyed in horror as his sister.

"Don't look! J-just take yer sis away from here!" He said and tried to keep his voice steady as he pushed the screaming and crying girl towards her brother. "I-I gotta find Lottie..."

Mute by the shock, Felix could only nod slowly as he took his sisters hand and led her back to the outside. And Bentley immediately began to search through every corner of the house for Lottie, but she just wasn't anywhere to be found. She was gone! The Baxters were murdered and Lottie was like swallowed by the earth! On the outside, he could hear how Ida cried and how her brother tried to comfort her, but he didn't sound far away from crying either.

Bentley just couldn't stop asking himself; what the hell happened here?! He walked outside, and the two children turned their heads to him with their large, teary eyes, full of sorrow and fear. He looked around, but couldn't see any signs of Lottie out here either.

"LOTTIE?!" He yelled at the top of his lungs and hoped for a reply of some sorts, but nothing. "LOOTTTIEEE?!" He kept screaming until his lungs ran out of air and his voice broke. He fell to the ground and covered his eyes with his arm. "No... No! Fuck! No no no no NO! Fuck!" He kept cussing until he felt a little, careful hand on his shoulder.

He looked up and met the hazel brown eyes of Ida, tears were literally gushing out of them as she began to sob again and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into his mane as she wept.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, y'two..." Bentley was dangerously close to just giving in to the tears as well, but he managed to bite them back. These two little children had just found their parents murdered, if anyone here had a reason to cry it was them. But he couldn't help but to worry himself sick about Lottie. She had to be okay! She just had to!

"W-what... What h-happened, m-mister Bentley?" Felix stuttered and wipe his eyes with the back of his hand. "Wh-who did this...?"

"I..." Bentley started, but then he trailed off and locked his eyes on the ground. "I don't know what happened... but when I get my hands on the ones who did this..." He growled lowly and balled one of his fists. "Then they better have their own graves already dug, 'cause they'll be needin' them!" He didn't know why he said that, or what made him say something like that. But somehow, somewhere deep inside, he knew he meant it...

…

It took them almost the rest of the day until they were done with the graves. Mr and Mrs Baxter had been buried by the edge of the forest, right between two tall spruces, and the big hill of rocks on top had been decorated by Ida with a lot of colorful flowers. At first, Bentley didn't want the kids around as he started to dig the graves, but both Felix and Ida had insisted, since it was THEIR parents after all. Bentley eventually didn't have any other choice than to let them dig along with him. And while the kids were picking flowers for the graves, Bentley had taken their bodies outside and buried them. He didn't want the kids to see them the way they were now.

He also took the opportunity to clean up the house, both to get his mind off things, and since it was getting dark and the kids needed to sleep, so it would be best to get the house cleaned up to not make the children even more upset. Suddenly, as he cleaned, he noticed something on the ground: a note. He picked it up, and his heart began to race again as he read it:

"_We got your girl, hyena. Unless you want her to end up like these two fools, I suggest you go to the big oak-tree, south down the river you can't miss it, before midnight. _

_We'll be waiting..."_

He just stood there in the poor light, staring at the note. His mind was blank, except for one frightening thought: They had Lottie. The murderers had taken Lottie!

That night, neither of the three could either eat or sleep, they were still shaken from todays 'surprise'. Bentley managed to convince them to eat at least a few bites of their sandwiches and drink some milk before going to bed.

"M-mister Bentley?" Felix asked carefully as Bentley was about to walk out from his and Idas room downstairs.

Bentley stopped with his hand on the doorknob and turned around. "Huh?"

"A-are you gonna leave us?"

He paused before shaking his head. "No, not for long, at least..." He said lowly. "I'm just gonna go and get Lottie back, then we'll all leave together, okay?"

Felix and Ida was quiet and exchanged glances from their beds on each side of the room. But then Ida nodded carefully while Felix looked down at his sheets. "O-Okay..." He muttered.

"Go to bed now, and don't worry! We'll be back soon!" Bentley promised and with that, he left the room and carefully closed the door behind him. He took a deep sigh before walking with determined strides towards the stairs and later the door. But before he walked out into the sunset, he picked up a bundle of rope, just in case he could come up with some use for it. He was going to find Lottie, and make the ones responsible for all this suffer! He didn't know where his sudden bloodlust came from, and he didn't like it, but he knew he just couldn't let these people get away with their crimes! Not after all this!

…

It was dark, and the huge oak tree cast it's shadow on the gang down below it. The only thing to light up the area was the fire from the gangs campfire. Around the fire, three men sat together, two of them were laughing and talking loudly while the third, a charcoal gray lizard with black, curly hair, silently was poking into the fire with a long stick. One of the two other men, the dark brown rabbit with slightly reddish hair and scars on his face, was constantly sipping on a bottle even if the others said he had enough a long time ago.

But besides the three men, pressing herself against the oak trees bark, was a young female hyena; Lottie. She was tied up with her arms behind her back and stared with wide, puffy eyes at the three men. She was still in shock after the Baxters were murdered in front of her when they had tried to protect her, and her eyes were still stinging from the crying she had allowed herself to do. Until the strangers told her to shut up.

She already knew that their leader, the dark lizard with the hair, was called Connor, or 'Con', and apparently, the others names were Cain, the weasel, and Lo, the rabbit. But concerning their business here, all she knew was that they were looking for Bentley for some reason, and had left the murdered Baxters behind with a note as a trail. These men were ruthless and didn't seem to be afraid to use any methods to get their way. She rarely thought this of other people but she had to admit: these men were despicable.

Lottie was hoping that Bentley wouldn't come. She hoped that he would take the children and lead them somewhere safe. Sure, they would kill her if Bentley hadn't shown up by midnight, but she would gladly give her life if they were allowed to live. And right now, it seemed as if that would be the case, since the clock was ticking closer and closer to midnight and Con was getting impatient. And that Lo just kept drinking and drinking more whiskey didn't improve his mood either, since the drunker the rabbit got, the louder and more obnoxious he got as well.

She sighed and looked up at the bits and pieces of the clear, starry night sky she could see between the branches of the oak tree. Oh well, at least it was a beautiful night to die on...

"Heya! Girly!" She stiffened when she heard Lo holler at her, and drew a deep, calming breath before turning her head to him.

"Y-yes?"

"Won'tcha rather sit 'ere with us, eh?" He said with a drunken grin and got up from the log he was sitting on.

Lottie scooted closer to the tree and looked down in her lap. "I-I'd rather not, sir..." But he ignored her and forced her up on her feet.

"Oh please, we insist!" He smirked as he dragged, the now terrified, Lottie to their fire and made her sit down next to him. She squirmed in her ropes and tried to scoot away from him, but he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "Look, sweetie, I know we've been bad to ya an' yer friends, but I'd hate to see us leave as enemies..." He moved his arm up to her shoulder and ran one of his fingers along her collarbone.

She tensed up in fear. "P-please don't touch me..." She muttered lowly and felt how her heart fearfully drummed against her ribcage.

Lo chuckled, brushed his lips against her ear and whispered: "Or what, sweetie? Yer boyfriend will be jealous?"

"Just leave 'er alone already, Lo" Cain sighed and shook his head. "Time's almost up, we gotta get rid of her soon y'know" Con didn't say anything as he kept staring into the fire with a thoughtful look on his face.

"C'mon, Cain! Don't be such a bore!" Lo grinned wolfishly at Lottie, which in the shadows thrown by the fire made him look even more frightening. "We're just gonna have us a lil' fun, eh sweetie?"

Her eyes widened in fear as she shook her head and tried to get out of his grip. "N-no... No! P-please...!"

"Oh..." Lo gripped her chin with the fingers of his free hand and forced her to look up at him. Her light blue eyes were wide and full of fear as they met his brownish green ones. "Ya never been with a man b'fore, have ya?" Lottie was trembling as she was forced to look at the man and the dark aura he emitted. "Don'tcha worry hun, you'll be beggin' for more in a while, I guarantee it!" He was just about to force a kiss onto her lips when something came flying through the air.

Whatever it was, it was hard and it hit Lo straight in the head. The rabbit screamed in pain and grasped his head, where blood soon began to gush out from a big hole in his scalp. Con and Cain instantly rose up from their spots, their guns ready and stared into the dark woods around them. They couldn't see anyone though, but Lottie could sense Bentleys presence in the woods. While she was relieved to have been saved, she couldn't help but to worry as well; now they were going to catch him and do what they really were here to do: kill him. And she knew she just couldn't stand it if they murdered Bentley as well! She deserved that fate more than he and the Baxters did!

She squirmed in her ropes some more, before she felt someone grab her by the root of her hair, forcefully pull her head back and place a knife against her throat. "Show yourself, hyena!" Lo growled and pressed the knife harder against her throat. The cold steel sent shivers down her spine and a slight pinch of pain when its tip broke through her fur and skin, drawing a little blood. "Show yourself or yer girl 'ere gits a new smile, goin' all the way from ear t'ear!"

"No, Bentley! G-get out of here!" She hurried to shout into the woods, hoping that he would do as she said. "D-don't worry 'bout me! Just go!"

Lo yanked her hair harder and she couldn't help but to let out a wince of pain. "Just shut up!" He hissed into her ear. He didn't sound as drunk as he did before...

"Let her go and I won't throw more stuff at'cha, 'kay?" Bentleys voice was heard from somewhere among the trees, but it was hard to pinpoint his exact location.

Con lowered his gun, and so did Cain. "We'll set her free once you show yourself!" The lizard answered and a faint grin was visible in the corners of his mouth.

There was a moment of silence before someone finally emerged from the shadows and stepped into the light from the fire; Bentley, and he didn't look all too happy. Lottie slouched over and sobbed as she shook her head. "No no no no..." She whimpered. Bentley hadn't listened to her. He still came. He would get himself killed!

"Finally! We've been waiting for you!" Con said and holstered his gun. Bentley didn't say anything in response and watched as Cain, on signal from Con, went over to his roadrunner and pulled out a big net from the saddle, very much like the kind you'd use when you fish. But bigger, as if was meant to hold something bigger than fish. "In fact, we've been looking for you and your little friend for quite some time now!"

"Let her go!" Bentley said lowly with a snarl. "You said you'd let her go if I showed myself, now set her free!"

Con looked like he was hesitating for a while, but then he grinned and nodded at Lo. "Let her go, Lo. After all, we keep our promises, don't we?"

Lo grunted something incoherent and used his knife to cut the ropes around Lottie, and then pushed her aside. "Ya keep outta this, girly!" He snarled and waved with his knife at her before siding up with Cain and Con. Lottie didn't answer him, she just watched wide-eyed in fear how the three men approached Bentley, one with a net, one with a knife and the third with his hand hovering over his gun. Bentley took a step back for every step they took towards him. She knew she had to help him, but what could she do?!

Bentley snarled lowly as the men approached him. He had a set of traps in the woods, but he needed them to start following him. But if he started running now, the lizard would just shoot him before he had taken five steps!.

"If you'd just hand yourself over to us, everything would be MUCH simpler and easier for us all!" The lizard said, still wearing that cocky grin. "And you might get a quicker and swifter death too!"

"Whaddya want with me?" Bentley flattened his ears to his neck. "What did I ever do to you? Or the Baxters?"

"Those two fools in the stick house? Well, they got in the way" The lizard shrugged, but then he pointed at Bentley and smirked. "But you; we were hired by yer old master to... Dispose of the vermin. And the vermin being you!"

"NO!" They heard Lottie scream just before she came running toward the men and hit Con in the back of his head with a piece of burning firewood. "Bentley, RUN!"

The men cursed and they all turned to her, growling lowly and Lo raised his knife up to his face. Bentley hesitated, but then he turned around and ran for the forest. But before he disappeared, he turned around again and whistled to get the mens attention. "Hey! Over here, uglies!" He hollered and they turned away from Lottie. They saw Bentley head for the shadows of the woods and a smirk appeared in the corners of Cons mouth.

"Lo, stay here and watch the girl. We'll come for you in a moment!" He said and waved for Cain to come with him. Lo turned to Lottie and smiled evilly, she gulped and raised the piece of firewood, ready to hit him if he got too close.

…

Bentley ran through the dark woods, jumping over logs and rocks, dodging for low branches. He was hoping that the men following him would be able to catch up, since he was heading at a special direction. But what he didn't know, was that Con quickly figured out where the hyena were headed and sent Cain to take a shortcut and cut him off. So just when Bentley entered the clearing he was headed for, he felt a net being thrown over him from the side and he fell to the ground. Wrapped up and unable to move. But he did manage to tilt his head to the side, and saw the indian weasel looming over him, just in time for Con to burst out through the edge of the woods and notice that the hyena had been caught. He let out a short laugh and wiped his brow.

"You're a quick one, I'll give you that!" He said, and Bentley growled in response. He was so close... "Now, Cain, go and get Lo. I bed he'd wanna join us here"

Cain nodded and turned to run back, but then stopped when he seemed to remember something and tilted his head at Con. "Ey, Con, what 'bout the girl?" He asked, and Bentley squirmed worriedly in the net.

Con was quite for a while, but then he shrugged. "Just put a bullet in her head, better get rid of her too" Cain nodded and left.

"The hell ya do!" Bentley yelled in fear and tried to get free from the net, but to no avail. "Leave Lottie alone! She's got no part in this!"

"Neither did those fools back there, but we couldn't let them live either" Con slumped down on an overturned log and brushed a few black curls out of his eyes.. "Hopefully we can get this over with quickly, I'm starting to get tired over here!"

…

Lo was muttering to himself as he wiped the blood off his forehead. The wound that hyena had give him was still bleeding. Not as much as it did before, but it didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon either. Lottie slowly backed away from the large rabbit, still with the piece of firewood raised like a club. She was hoping that Bentley had something up in his sleeve, as he seemed to know exactly where he was going. But she still felt she had to help him somehow, but as long as Lo was here, she couldn't go after him! She had to get rid of Lo first! She could see in his eyes that he was still under the influence of the alcohol, so hopefully he'd be easier to trick. But just tricking him wouldn't be enough; she had to get rid off him. Kill him. She took a few steps more backwards when he grinned and feigned an attack at her.

She didn't want to kill him. Even if he might deserve it, she just couldn't hurt another being! Not again! But she knew she wouldn't have any other choice. Not if she wanted to help Bentley. And she knew how to kill him as quick and painless as possible, even if she had promised her mother never to do this to hurt another! But she, once again, didn't have much of a choice...

She sighed and slowly lowered the club, earning a confused frown from Lo. "Are the others gone now?" She asked lowly, which only added to the rabbits confusion.

"They should be?" He mumbled and cocked an eyebrow when Lottie sat back down on the log and stared into the fire. Hesitating.

"You will kill me, no matter how this ends, right?" She said lowly. "And don't lie, I can tell when someone is lying"

Lo shrugged and stuck his knife back into his belt. "Probably!"

"I knew it..." She looked down on her lap. She had a plan on how to get him to come closer and lower his guard, but it felt wrong. She was about to kill a person, and she felt her throat tighten up just thinking about it. But it had to be done... "You were right before, Lo... Bentley and I never... I have never..." She paused and looked over at him, blushing slightly. "I have never known a man before..."

Lo flinched in surprise, but then he grinned smugly and confidently walked over to her. "Keep talkin', sweetie!"

"And since I'm apparently going to die either way..." She instinctively tried to scoot away when he came closer, but stopped herself in time. Instead she stood up and averted her eyes. "I... I was just thinking..." He was barely even an armslength away from her when she looked up at him with a sad frown. "I'm so sorry!"

He raised his eyebrows in confusion, but that was all he had the time to do. Her hand lashed out in the blink of an eye and forcefully jabbed two of her fingers in his chest. She hit the exact pressure point she was aiming at, causing his heart to come to a complete standstill. He was dead before he hit the ground. She stared down at him with wide eyes before the realization hit her. She stifled a scream and clamped her hands in front of her mouth while her eyes filled up with tears. She had done it. She had stopped someones heart forever. She would NEVER be forgiven for this!

She sat down on the log on the opposite side of the dying fire and tried to calm herself down. She eventually succeeded, but the sight of the dead rabbit was enough to make her feel sick again. Suddenly she heard a voice from the woods, and stiffened in fright. It was Cain! But they couldn't have killed Bentley already?!

"Hey, Lo!" The native weasel said as he made his way to the oak tree. "We got the hyena! Just put a bullet in the bitch when you're done an' come to the clearin' by the fishin' pond!" But he came to a complete halt when he saw his friend lying face down in front of the campfire, and the female hyena dive for his gun. "What the hell...?!" Cain hissed, drew his own gun and the first gunshot echoed through the dark woods.

…

Bentley had managed to find a sharp pebble through the net, and used it to discretely cut through the rope with, but it seemed to be taking forever. Especially since he had to be careful to not get discovered by Con, who had begun to saunter back and forth while occasionally glancing at the trapped hyena. He was walking very closely to the trap Bentley had set earlier, but he wasn't counting on the lizard to fall in it soon.

"So, yer name is Con, huh?" Bentley asked in an effort to get the lizard to start talking, so that he would be focused on that instead of Bentley. "Why does that sound familiar?"

Con stopped pacing and smirked. "Perhaps you know me better as Crazy-Con?"

Bentley nodded. "That rings a bell! And I can't say that the name doesn't suit you, bloody lunatic!" Con tilted his head at the hyena, who hurried to hide the pebble in his hand, and bursted out laughing.

"Now I see why Mr Aventine wanted to get rid of you, you sure ain't afraid to speak your mind, are you?"

"Not that I can see any faults in that? Though I'm kinda curious; WHY do they call ya Crazy-Con? Ya don't look especially nutty to me? Except you brutally murdered two of my friends and made their two kids orphans, and you just sent one of your lackeys to kill an innocent girl... No, I think I know why they call you crazy!" As he talked, Bentley began to work on the next piece of rope in the net, slowly sawing up a hole.

Con snorted. "They call me crazy because I like to teach others a lesson-..."

"And what kind of lesson will I learn from gettin' tortured to death?"

"You, my friend, will set an example for others. Your death will set an example for all slaves who think they can do whatever they want in this world!"

"... Did the Aventines really tell you that?"

"No, they just wanted to ensure your demise for personal reasons. I did some thinking on my own!"

"Go figures..."

The hole Bentley was slowly sawing up got bigger and bigger, but suddenly two gunshots went off somewhere in the distance. Bentley froze up and felt his heart drop while Con seemed unaffected.

"L-Lottie...?" He stuttered and looked back at the woods. "N-no, Lottie!"

"About time..." Con said with an approving grunt and began pacing again. "Wonder if they would mind if I went on ahead?" He turned his head to Bentley and smirked evilly. "I'd really like those ears of yours as trophies, but they're gonna get splattered with blood in a while, so I better take them now while they're clean, yes?"

Bentley flattened his ears to his neck, almost hiding them in his thick mane. He could mourn Lottie later, he had to make these guys suffer first! He noticed that Con was just a few feet away from his trap, and instantly flinched as if something in that direction had startled him. "What the hell was that?!" He exclaimed, which earned Cons attention.

"What?"

"I dunno, I just saw somethin' move in those bushes! It looked real' big an' ugly! Maybe it's yer mom who's come to visit?!"

Con snorted and turned to Bentley with a snarl. "There's nothin' there, mutt! And keep my mother out of this!"

"There WAS somethin' there! I swear, man!" Bentley squirmed worriedly. "Can't ya at least take a look? I'm seriously creeped out here!"

The lizard looked furious for a while, but then he snorted in annoyance and went over to the bushes. "See, you stupid hyena; there's nothing he-... WHOAA!"

Just as he had gone over to the bushes, a loop of rope, completely hidden underneath the grass, leaves and pebbles on the ground, had tightened itself around his foot and within a few beats, he found himself dangling upside down from a tree, cursing and kicking violently.

_He actually fell for that? _Bentleys ears perked._ I still got it!_ He thought and hurried to saw through the rest of the net with the pebble. When he finally was done, the muscles in his arms hurt and felt heavy and sweat was running down his face, but he should be able to squeeze through the net now. He managed to crawl out through the hole he made, just as Con cut through the ropes suspending him in the air, with a pocket knife.

The heavy lizard fell onto the ground with an audible _thud_, and had just managed to get on his feet and regain his bearings as Bentleys fist collided with his snout. Bentleys face was a mask of rage as he kept pounding the lizards face with punches. This lizard had killed the Baxters, Lottie and god knows who else! Bentley yanked the lizards gun out of it's holster, pushed him back against a tree and took aim. Good people had died, just because Con and his gang had been searching for him.

Yet, now when Con was out of luck, his face all bruised and bloody from Bentleys attacks, and all he had to do now was to pull the trigger, he found himself incapable to. He just stood there, two-three feet away from the murderer with his gun in a shaky grip. A little squeeze of his finger was all that was needed, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Murdering Con would just bring him down to his level. And Con seemed to read that from Bentleys face, as he looked up with a cocky grin and spat out some blood and possibly a few pieces of teeth on the ground.

"What's the matter, hyena?" He snickered and held his arms out. "You'll never get a clearer shot!" Bentley gritted his fangs and cocked the hammer back. But he still couldn't do it. His hand holding the gun was shaking, and he slowly lowered it, to Cons amusement. "You just can't do it, huh?"

Bentley cursed lowly to himself. This man was a murderer! He, if anyone, deserved to die! But why couldn't he just pull the trigger and get it over with? Why couldn't he kill this son of a gun?!

"_All life exists in the world for a reason. A life isn't easy to create or sustain, therefore a life must never be taken in vain, rage or for fun. Life is something sacred, and should never be taken lightly"_

Those were the words his old people lived after and tried so hard not to break, but that was what Con and his men had done. Bentley felt torn; he knew it was wrong to kill in rage, even if the man had done something unforgivable. But just this man deserved it! He had killed and tortured before, and he would do it again if Bentley let him live! Why was it so hard to just do the world a favor and get rid off him for good?!

While he was hesitating, Con reached down for the pocket knife he dropped, and raised it above his head just as Bentley noticed. Bentley flinched when the lizard suddenly lunged for him, screaming like a madman and swinging his knife at random. He jumped out of the way for the knife and aimed the gun again. A shot went off and Con suddenly stopped moving.

The lizard stood still with his arm lifted. He had a shocked expression on his face, and soon a red stain began to grow on his shirt. Bentley watched with a heavily beating heart as Crazy-Con dropped his knife and fell to the ground. Dead. Bentley looked down at his gun. He hadn't been the one who fired, so who...?

He slowly turned his head around and saw Lottie stand in the clearing, holding a revolver with both of her hands. Tears were running down her cheek from her widened, light blue eyes, and she was panting heavily. As if she just had been running a marathon.

"L-Lottie?!" Bentley exclaimed, happier than ever to see her alive and well! Okay, maybe scratch that 'well' part... "Lottie? A-are you okay?"

She dropped the gun with a loud sob and took a staggering step back, covering her mouth with both of her hands. Bentley hurried to throw his own gun away and ran up to her, just as she did a pained wince and clasped at her waist. He slowed down when he first now noticed the blood; a big red stain on her side that grew by the second. His heart skipped a beat in fear.

"L-Lottie, what's...?" He asked, just as she crumbled to her knees. She would've fallen down on the ground if he hadn't dived down and caught her. "Lottie?! Lottie?! What's wrong?!" His voice was starting to shake with fear as he brushed some of her thick, brown hair out of her face.

"I... I k-killed them..." She sobbed, her voice strained with pain. "I... I killed them all!" She began to sob even louder while fighting the pain in her side. "I-I murdered them!"

Bentley held her tighter and tried to calm her down, and himself! They had to go back and she needed to get that wound looked at pronto! "There, there, Lottie... It's alright..." He said and smoothed out the thick hair on her head. "You're gonna be alright, I promise... I ain't gonna lose anybody else! Not t'day or any other day!" He gritted his teeth and fought back his own tears, while she kept simultaneously crying and wincing in pain. "Just hang in there, Lottie! Please, don't go! I can't lose you too!"

**DUN DUN DUNNN! And there'll be a whole week before next update... Suddenly I feel slightly evil... MWAHAHAHAHA! **

**:I**

**Ahum, I promise to have at least ONE chapter ready when I return ;)! **


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